Altered Perceptions
by kakashiclone1120
Summary: Team seven begins their journey as genin in Konoha, but wait! Why does their team have a fourth member? And furthermore, why is he always acting really strangely? How will the addition of this fourth member alter their fate? Pairings undecided.
1. Chapter 1

Greetings from the other side!

Its me, your good old neighborhood retard, and I'm back with a brand freakin new story. There's not a whole lot to say except review. I can't possibly tell you how much I enjoy reading your comments. I even have a little prayer I say each time I get online to check my reviews. NOW READ AND REVIEW OR ELSE A MAN WITH PARALYSIS IN HIS RIGHT HAND WILL HAUNT YOU! HAUNT I SAY!

I don't own Naruto. I do own my new, secret, ultra-kool, slightly creepy, OC!

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Hatake Kakashi met the Hokage in Naruto's very home. Though he didn't know why the hokage had chosen to meet here, he obeyed well enough. He happened to look down at a carton of milk that was expired. He had a feeling his genin team was going to drive him off the walls.

"Ahh, Kakashi. You're here." The hokage greeted warmly from his seat on Naruto's chair "I'm giving Uzumaki Naruto to you. With your skills, I'm sure you'd be able to handle it."

"I will do this mission to the best of my abilities." Kakashi said obediently as he bowed and prepared to leave. The voice of the hokage was the only thing stopping him.

"Before you got Kakashi, you should know something about your team." The hokage said with a smile, as if he enjoyed what he was doing "Due to numbers of students, I had to give you an extra one."

"I have a four man team now…" Kakashi said uneasily "Who, pray tell, did you decide to add?"

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura awaited their jounin instructor patiently in the classroom. He was over an hour late now, and everyone was beginning to get irritable. Out of sheer boredom, Naruto decided to put an eraser between the door and the wall, which he hoped would catch their sensei unawares as he walked in.

Naruto didn't even have time to get yelled at by Sakura when the door opened and the eraser fell onto its victim, kicking up a cloud of chalk dust as it did so.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry for Naruto." Sakura began, not seeing who it was "I tried to stop him but-who are you?"

"Um, hey I'm Himura Reiko and stuff…" Said a boy their age who was waving the dust away from him with one hand. "They told me that I was going to have to be sent in with a three man team, thereby making us a four man team. I think your eraser just hit me on the head."

They all studied Reiko up and down. He was fairly tall and lanky, his long limbs fitting his height. His hair was a very bright shade of red and stuck out in every direction conceivable. He wore his hitae-ate on his forehead like normal, but seemed to be anything but. He didn't wear a shirt, showing off his slightly puny arms and torso. He did wear a pair of heavy looking black pants that seemed to be endlessly full of pockets. His stance was pretty relaxed, despite his odd appearance.

"Well I'm Uzumaki Naruto, your future hokage and generally all around awesome guy!" Naruto yelled to him, striking a cool pose as he did so.

"Wow, you're exuberant." Reiko said, his voice almost genuine "And who might this lovely young lady be?"

"My name is Haruno Sakura, I'm very glad to meet you Himura san." Sakura said with a slight bow as inner Sakura bellowed 'Like hell it's nice to meet you, you shirtless freak!'

"For some reason I'm picking up a hint of hostility from you." Reiko said idly, not showing any real hint of emotion "What's with broody over there in the corner?"

"Uchiha Sasuke." Sasuke replied flatly. He hadn't quite decided if he liked Reiko yet or not. The boy seemed to be pretty normal, but looks can be deceiving. He would just bide his time and wait until he proved himself to be an idiot.

It was at that point when Hatake Kakashi walked into the room. At the mere sight of Reiko, he winced. He knew exactly who the boy was and knew what he had in store for him.

"Allright, I've just decided that I hate you all." Kakashi said offhandedly then looked directly at Reiko "Especially carrot top over here."

"Hey!" Was Reiko's objection to the insult, but it didn't mater because Kakashi had walked off. As he was turned around however, the other members of team seven got a good look at a tattoo of an eye, sitting square in the center or Reiko's neck, below his hairline. Nobody seemed to want to comment on it as they followed their new sensei to wherever it was he was taking them.

"Allright." Kakashi said lazily as they all sat in front of him "I'm your new jounin instructor. Let's start by telling us a bit about ourselves."

"Why don't you start sensei? After all, you're a complete mystery to us." Sakura said sweetly to him.

"Allright." Kakashi began "My name is Hatake Kakashi. My likes and dislikes are none of your business. I don't like to talk about my goals. But I do have lots of hobbies…"

"He talked a lot but we didn't really learn anything about him." Sakura whispered to Naruto, who concurred.

"Now, let's start off with the orange kid over here. Tell us about yourself." Kakashi said, pointing boredly at Naruto.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto." Naruto began with a yell "I love instant ramen, but hate the three minute wait for it to cook. I like to play pranks on people and my dream is to someday be Hokage so that everybody respects me."

"Um…okay…" Kakashi said. Naruto appeared to have little else on his mind besides ramen. "Now the young lady."

"My name is Haruno Sakura." Sakura said sweetly "I like a certain someone and I hate Naruto. My hobbies include shopping and putting on make up. My dream is to make a certain someone fall in love with me."

"Whatever." Kakashi said, having not really listened to her at all. "It's your turn to go broody."

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke." Sasuke said coldly "There's not much I like, but there's plenty of things I hate. I don't have any hobbies and my goal is to kill someone."

"That's interesting…" Kakashi said, making a mental note to stay away from Sasuke. He sighed when he looked at Reiko, who was staring off at nothing in the distance "Shirtless, it's your turn."

"My name is Himura Reiko. Contrary to popular belief, I'm not under the influence of illegal substances." Reiko started with a smile, making everybody raise an eyebrow at him "Just so you know, I suffer from delusions. This means I see things that the rest of you don't. If I'm ever acting strange in any way, it's probably something I'm seeing and you're not. Just confront me about it and tell me what's going on so I can keep a grip on reality. My likes involve training with my family's arts and staring at sunsets. My dislikes involve waking up to demons that sever my limbs as soon as I open my eyes. I enjoy looking at different weapons, especially swords and plan to get one someday. My goal is to be the greatest shinobi from my clan, fall in love one day, and marry an extremely gorgeous woman who accepts my flaws and loves me for who I am."

"You're just plain weird kid." Kakashi said to him, causing Reiko to face fault into the ground almost immediately "Tomorrow we're having a mission. I suggest you don't eat breakfast tomorrow, unless you enjoy throwing up."

"Why would we be throwing up?" Naruto asked, a little more worried than everybody else.

"Has our milk gone bad? Have enemy shinobi poisoned the water supply? Are strange men wearing black robes with red clouds on them planning to kill us?" Reiko asked with wide eyes.

"Um…no spas…The mission just has a sixty six percent rate of failure. Just what kind of delusions do you have?" Kakashi explained slowly, a little creeped out.

"The very, very serious kind." Reiko said with a smirk, acting like it wasn't a big deal. In truth it wasn't to him, he had seen them his whole life. His strange behavior just made everybody else want to take a chemical bath.

"At any rate, just meet me at training area seven tomorrow at six o'clock sharp. Remember, no breakfast." Kakashi said as he suddenly disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Well, it's about time I hit the ol' dusty trail." Reiko said, stretching and getting up "I guess I'll see you guys tomorrow. Stay awesome."

With that weird little declaration, Reiko wandered off. Soon after, everybody else did to, all of them preparing themselves for the next day.

The next morning, everybody gathered at training area seven, like instructed. The first to show up was Sasuke. He was quickly followed by his stalker, Sakura. Naruto came in not long after, greeting everyone loudly. A little while later, Reiko showed up with his hands in his pockets.

"Sorry I'm late everyone, I was having tea with a rabbit and a guy with a large hat." Reiko said as he sat down on the grass "Then this rabbit in a petticoat came by and we had to fix his pocket watch by putting different condiments into the gears. I had a smashing time."

"I think you might have been seeing things Reiko san." Naruto said to him with one eyebrow raised.

"I probably was. But nonetheless, I enjoyed the experience." Reiko replied with a smile "Sometimes you just gotta go with the flow, you know?"

"Um…Reiko san? What kinds of things do you see?" Naruto asked, inching closer to him as he took out a can of something and began drinking it.

"Well." Reiko said with a grin as he took a swig of whatever he was drinking "If you want to see, just close your eyes and touch the tattoo on the back of my neck. If you get scared or anything, just let go."

Sakura and Sasuke watched Naruto anxiously as his trembling hand reached for Reiko's tattoo. That's right, Sasuke was watching for once. It would be interesting to see Naruto's reaction to this one. Naruto closed his eyes and touched the tattoo. Nothing seemed to happen to him so he opened his eyes ready to boast that he didn't see anything. As soon as his eyes became opened however, he started trembling all over. Sweat was pouring down his face and his eyes looked like they were going to burst out of his skull.

"What the hell is happening to him?" Sakura exclaimed as she rushed in and pulled Naruto away from Reiko.

"Man I love Tuesdays…" Reiko said to himself peacefully as he took another drink. "He'll be fine, he's just a little shocked."

Naruto was curled up into a little ball and shaking. He appeared to be trying to mumble something but the words wouldn't come. It took about ten minutes for him to calm down enough to say anything.

"Naruto, I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell them what you saw. If they want to see, they're more than welcome to touch the tattoo." Reiko said before Naruto could get any words out "Besides, I'd like to see if big bad Uchiha san could handle it."

Sasuke didn't feel the need to dignify him with a response. He felt that he was above Reiko, Naruto, and whatever it was that Reiko saw. Sakura however, didn't seem to show the same feelings on the subject, and quickly stood up for him. God her very voice was grating his nerves.

"Sasuke kun isn't afraid of anything! He'll touch your stupid tattoo and wipe the floor with your ass after he does it!" Sakura yelled at him.

"Princess, the guy doesn't care." Reiko said to her with a grin "I'm also pretty sure he doesn't like you very much by the way he winces every time your voice hits a high note. I've got nothing against you personally, but I have to ask you to let him defend himself."

"Sakura chan…" Naruto said softly, his eyes still wide "Reiko is right. Just sit down and let's be very quiet for a while."

Everybody except Naruto stared at Reiko for a long time, wondering how he could have gotten Naruto to shut up. Reiko seemed to be in his own little world however, and quietly sipped his drink.

"Yo." Kakashi said suddenly as he appeared in a puff of smoke. At that moment, Naruto and Sakura proceeded to yell at him for being late.

"Sorry guys, I got lost on the road of life." Kakashi said, knowing he was lying just as much as everybody else. "Reiko, what are you drinking?"

"Canned sake from a vending machine." Reiko said calmly as he took another sip of his sake. Everybody stared at him again.

"You can't even legally drink!" Sakura yelled at him. The whole time Reiko sat there quietly as if he didn't notice her yelling at him.

"Do your parents know that you drink?" Kakashi asked him suspiciously, wondering what kind of household he grew up in.

"Not around my mom. My dad and I drink though." Reiko said with a smile as he finished off his sake and crushed the can "If my mom caught either of us drinking…well lets just say it wouldn't be pretty."

"Well…just don't get drunk before we go on missions." Kakashi said to him, not really knowing what to do in this situation.

"Don't worry sensei dude, I'll keep the drinking to a minimum." Reiko said as he gave Kakashi a thumbs up sign.

"All right everybody. Today, your mission is to get these bells" Kakashi said, holding up three bells and tying them to his belt "Away from me before noon. If you don't get a bell, I'm going to tie you to a stump and eat lunch in front of you. On top of that you will be sent back to the academy. There are only three bells, so one of you is definitely going back."

"Any rules as to what we can and cannot do?" Reiko asked politely, now standing up.

"There are no rules as to the techniques you can use." Kakashi said with a sly look in his visible eye "You have to come at me like you're going to kill me, otherwise you won't stand a chance. Now, ready, steady, GO!"

As soon as Kakashi said go, all of them disappeared, hiding themselves well. It wasn't long before Naruto proved himself to be an idiot and went to face Kakashi on his own. While Sasuke and Sakura stayed to watch, Reiko meandered off to set up a plan of some sort.

It wasn't long before Kakashi was off in the woods, looking for Reiko. He had dispatched of everybody else and couldn't seem to find the boy anywhere. Thinking about his character and his family history, he decided to go and make sure the others were in the same place he left them. Upon checking Sasuke and Sakura, he found neither of them to be where they were supposed to. He grinned to himself and went to the stump where Naruto was tied.

He chuckled when he found Naruto tied to the stump still. He saw the trap coming already. He slowly walked toward Naruto, hoping to set it off and see what Reiko had in store from him. He was no more than five feet from Naruto when his body suddenly disappeared in a puff of smoke and several other Narutos jumped out from behind the stumps and attacked him.

It was a simple thing for Kakashi to beat them off using only taijutsu, but then Sasuke came in and tried his hand at the getting the bells. Together, they were keeping him on his toes. Something seemed out of place though. Reiko had yet to show himself. Kakashi didn't know what hit him as Reiko seemed to appear out of nowhere and do nothing but touch his forehead.

The three boys slowly backed off and Naruto dispelled his clones. Kakashi thought it strange that they did that, but when they suddenly caught on fire, he realized what had happened. Reiko's family was known for their genjutsu abilities. Reiko used a technique that allowed him to put his opponent into a genjutsu just by touching them. He looked at his hands and they caught on fire. He quickly put his burning appendages together and dispelled the genjutsu.

Kakashi found himself tied to a stump with his four genin sitting in front of him. In Reiko's hand was the three bells which he held smugly in front of Kakashi. Kakashi could only chuckle silently to himself at their ability do defeat him under Reiko's supervision. It was ironic how such a weird kid could get a grasp of the whole mission. The only thing left was to see if he took it any deeper.

"The first bell." Reiko said, holding a single bell up "Goes to Naruto for being the bait. Doing something like that takes guts. You earned it."

"Thanks Reiko san!" Naruto said as he caught the bell that Reiko threw at him. He was surprised that Sasuke teme didn't get the first bell, but was pleased with the result all the same.

"The second bell." Reiko said, letting the suspense hang "goes to Sasuke for distracting Kakashi just enough to allow me to slip in for the finisher."

Sasuke didn't say anything as he caught the bell Reiko threw to him. In his mind he thought he deserved it more than anybody, except Reiko, who came up with the plan. But even then, he saw them as equal for it.

"The last bell." Reiko said, looking at it with a far off look in his eyes. He then looked to Sakura who was looking at the ground in disappointment. She knew that since she didn't do anything, she wouldn't get the bell. At first she didn't even notice as the small bell jingled on the ground she was looking at.

"Reiko san!" Sakura exclaimed, seeing the bell and picking it up in confusion "Why did you give the bell to me? I didn't do anything but weigh you all down. You should get the last bell."

"No Sakura chan…" Reiko said, leaning back on the grass with a smile "To be blunt, you suck. But you suck in a way that I think can be fixed. If I were to take the bell, you would go back to the academy and not learn anything. If I give the bell to you, you have a chance to learn from a very experienced jounin. You need it more than I do. Now you can show everybody that behind your beauty you have some skill as well."

During the whole thing, it was all Kakashi could do to stay completely neutral. He was trying not to show emotion so he could surprise them with his sentence. He cleared his throat with authority, signaling that he was going to speak now.

"After watching you all, I have concluded that…" Kakashi said, trailing off for dramatic emphasis. Reiko didn't seem to really care though. He could tell that Reiko didn't know he had played right into the skillful jounin's hands, but he just didn't really care. It was as if becoming a genin didn't matter to him "All of you, Reiko included, pass."

"WHAT?" Naruto exclaimed, his yell permeating the trees that surrounded him. Naruto was way too loud.

"You heard me." Kakashi said with a grin under his facemask "While I don't think you three understood the meaning of this exercise, I believe that Reiko did. Reiko, would you be so kind as to explain it to these three."

"Well, the object is teamwork, obviously." Reiko said with a shrug "Any genin who thinks he can go against a jounin by himself is either nuts, or already planted six feet under. I think big bad Uchiha san missed that mark by about two or three feet actually. Sakura was merely concerned with Sasuke and nobody else, so she got herself caught in a genjutsu. Naruto tried to prove himself and got tied up for being a moron."

"WHO ARE YOU CALLIN A MORON YOU SHIRTLESS FREAK?" Naruto bellowed at him, only to be silenced by everybody else.

"I knew from the get-go that I didn't have a chance alone, and a very small one as a team." Reiko continued, ignoring Naruto completely "I simply kept myself hidden until I could get you all out of your own messes and set up a plan most devious indeed…You three would be nowhere without me."

"Just as I thought, you didn't understand why there were only three bells instead of four." Kakashi said to him with another grin "There were only three bells to see if one of you would sacrifice yourself for the other. The whole thing was set up so that you would try to go in with an 'every man for himself' train of thought."

It was at this point where Kakashi stood up, having freed himself from his bonds long ago. Everybody but Reiko stared at him in awe. He had gotten free right in front of their faces and they didn't notice.

"Those who ignore their teammates when they need help are lower than trash." Kakashi said "In the end, your team is all you have. You have to take care of each other, or you'll only tear yourselves apart."

"Wow…I never would have thought of it that way." Naruto said, mystified at the speech Kakashi had given.

"I'm just glad to know we all passed." Reiko said, "My old man bet me ten bucks I wouldn't make it. Now I get to collect the cash."

"Your own father made a bet against you?" Sakura asked him as if it were the craziest thing in the world. "I thought a father was supposed to support his son."

"Of course he made a bet against me. He didn't think I could do it so he's obviously not going to bet that I'll be a genin." Reiko explained, rolling his eyes. "What kind of gambler are you?"

"Never mind all of that." Kakashi interrupted "Now all of you go home and eat lunch. We'll meet here tomorrow for our first mission."

Naruto jumped into the air and shouted in joy. Everybody else stood up and stretched a little before congratulating each other before heading home. Sakura even went so far as to smile warmly at Reiko before going off and following Sasuke. With such a small effort, he had instantly gained his teammates trust.

Kakashi couldn't help but smile. They were all good kids. Reiko had far outshined his expectations as well. Kakashi had expected a lazy, spaced out, idiot that wouldn't be able to learn a thing. He had been wrong, and now was actually pretty glad Reiko was in his team. Without him, they might not have passed the exam…

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Hokay. My thoughts on this chapter, since I have no reviews as of yet.

This chapter seemed a bit rushed and a tad bit cliche. I don't know why, but it just doesn't have a real good feel to it in my mind. It also makes Reiko come off as a complete Mary-sue, which I had no intention of whatsoever. I just hope people would keep on reading after they read this...It's really not the best portrayl of Reiko as a whole...or maybe it is and I'm just a janitor. Who the hell knows.

Well, that's my momma! Keep on tranglin!


	2. Chapter 2

Hey all.

Well, I'm still tranglin here, writing to the best of my abilities. This chapter wasn't so great, it merely served to talk a little bit about Reiko's powers and his abilities. We pretty much know about the other characters, but not him. Let me also tell you that if you think you know about Reiko and his powers, you haven't even scratched the surface of what he can do or the history of his power, which becomes very important later.

I don't own Naruto

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Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura snuck their way through the woods in search of their target. This was a delicate mission that involved careful planning. Somewhere along the line, Reiko had gotten lost, but it was loss. They would keep the money and he would miss out. They knew Reiko could be anywhere, however, because out of the four of them, he was the best at sneaking up on people.

Soon their target was in sight, just in front of them. With extreme caution, they hid behind trees so as not to be spotted. It was now or never. They all lunged from their respective hiding places at the target, who was only now catching on to them. Just before they reached the target however, a dart flew from the trees and struck the target squarely in the leg. Everybody stopped to see where it came from as the target simply fell over.

"Who did that?" Sakura asked worriedly. She didn't know what had really went on, but was afraid that the mission was in jeopardy.

"I did." A familiar voice said, dropping from the trees silently. "I'm getting sick and tired of doing this. I decided to do something more creative."

"Reiko!" Sakura yelled at him "You can't just go around hitting our mission objective with darts! Why in the world did he fall over like that?"  
"Look." Reiko said, picking up a cat with a dart in it's leg by the scruff of it's neck and held it in front of her face "In the past week, we have found this cat seven times and I have had to endure numerous scratches and bites from him. Now, he's just sedated so he'll be fine. If any of you would rather get scratched to death rather than sedate an animal, raise your hand."

"Ummm…Why don't you just wear a shirt?" Naruto asked, confusion written all over his face.

"I don't wear a shirt because I like to feel the wind on my skin. Besides, it makes me a total chick magnet." Reiko replied as he started to trudge off with the cat in tow "Call up Kakashi sensei on the radio and tell him we completed the mission."

Upon reaching headquarters, Reiko took the dart out of the cat's leg and handed him back to the woman who had requested they find him…again. She looked a little worried that he was asleep, but Reiko politely assured her that he would be just fine.

"Reiko, from now on, don't go around sedating cats without orders from us." Kakashi said to him with a sigh.

"That cat should be grateful I didn't come after him with one of these." Reiko replied, pulling out what looked like a thicker version of a senbon. It resembled a railroad spike more than anything.

"What the hell is that?" Naruto asked him, staring the weapon up and down suspiciously. He wasn't sure he liked Reiko having such devices at his disposal.

"This is a weapon that my clan uses exclusively. We invented it actually. It does a lot more damage then a regular senbon but still requires more finesse than a regular kunai or shuriken." Reiko replied with a smile "Yep, that's my clan. Pluggin' holes in people and seeing demons since the freakin stone ages man. We're the best around if you need something done half-assed or in a drunken manner."

"Wow, you have a whole clan, and some 'impressive' family history." Naruto said in awe.

"Actually it's just my dad and my uncle's families. We're still technically a clan though." Reiko said offhandedly "And I'm also the only one since my great-great-grandfather to be able to employ the special family jutsus."

"Wow, you must feel pretty lucky." Naruto said as he scratched the back of his head "Your family is mostly genjutsu users, but you have extra genjutsu abilities, you have your own special weapons, and you have a clan."

"I am pretty lucky to end up with our "bloodline". It only appears in men every few generations. It's never appeared in a woman before." Reiko said with a shrug.

"And why don't the women in your family get the bloodline." Sakura said defensively. She was a woman after all.

"Because it's a curse more than a bloodline, and the one who created it didn't want it to burden the females in our family." Reiko explained gravely, causing Sakura to look at him confusedly.

"A curse? What do you mean by that?" Sakura asked "I thought you just saw things because you had something wrong with you."

"Nope…I don't go a day without losing a limb or even my life to these hallucinations." Reiko said, his features suddenly becoming tired "Sure, I'm immune to almost all genjutsu, but at what cost? If I knew that's all it did however, I'd have gladly given it up long ago. The thing is, I think I can do something else with it, but nobody in my family knows. My great-great-grandfather didn't leave any clues as to what it was."

"So you know nothing about your powers, and you're constantly under attack by things nobody else sees…" Naruto said quietly "How do you deal with it all the time?"

"I just learned to." Reiko said as he shrugged his shoulders "If I hadn't, I would have been locked up a long time ago. That's part of the reason we're a four man team. They didn't expect me to stay sane long enough to become a genin."

"All right you four, we have to go and get another mission from the hokage that we'll start tomorrow." Kakashi said, leading them over to where the hokage sat.

"Greetings team seven, let's see what kind of mission we have today." The old man said as he looked through his stack of papers "We have babysitting the lord's children, digging up potatoes, painting a recently finished house…"

"Enough of these crappy missions old man! Give us something challenging! Something were we get to fight other shinobi!" Naruto yelled at the hokage in frustration.

"Well, apparently you don't understand how it works do you?" The old hokage said, preparing to explain the whole system to him.

"We understand just fine gramps, don't go into a long explanation or anything." Reiko interjected more polite than one could think possible "What my exuberant teammate means is, that he wants to test his skills, or at least do something a little less mundane."

"Well, since you put it that way…I think I could give you a nice C-ranked mission." The hokage said slyly "You'll be escorting one Tazuna, to the wave country. As a matter of fact, he's here right now. I think you should meet him."

The members of team seven turned around to face an old man with a bottle of alcohol and a slightly angry expression on his face. Judging by team seven's luck, they all accurately assessed that this was Tazuna.

"What's all this? I'm going to be protected by a bunch of kids?" Tazuna asked, "They look pretty weak to me, especially the short orange one and the tall shirtless one. They look like complete morons."

"If you don't shut your trap old man, I'm going to drink whatever you have in that bottle, break it over your head, and shove the broken shards so far up your ass you'll have to pick glass out of your teeth!" Reiko yelled at him as he attempted to carry out his threat.

Neither insulted parties got very far because Sakura beat Naruto into submission and Kakashi caught Reiko by one of his belt loops. It seems they got off to a real nice start.

"Not to worry Tazuna san, I'm a highly qualified jounin and my team is more capable than they look." Kakashi said politely with a smile "We'll meet tomorrow morning by the gate."

Reiko wandered home after they all had dispersed. He didn't have to go to his other job today, so he was ready to relax. Upon walking into the door however, he was greeted by both of his parents standing next to each other and staring at him silently.

His father was a man of average build with messy black hair. His posture and mannerisms were almost exactly like Reiko's though, despite their physical differences. His mother was a rather short woman with sandy blonde hair. They stood there smiling at him while he just hoped they weren't about to kill him.

"Um…why were the both of you standing here waiting for me?" Reiko asked suspiciously, thinking he had done something wrong.

"Son, your mother and I have talked about it, and we think it's time to give you something." Reiko's father said, using more proper grammar in that sentence than he had used in the last month.

"Is it forty hacks with a meat cleaver? If it is, I can always come back another time…" Reiko said, not really trusting them both.

"No son, it's a gift from my great grandfather and your great-great-grandfather. Think of it as an early birthday present." Reiko's father said, coming forward and handing his son a dusty box.

Reiko opened the box suspiciously. Inside it seemed to be nothing at first, due to all the dust, but upon closer inspection he found what looked like a mask. It was a strange mask different from the ones the Anbu wore. It was an oval shape and had no eyes or nose, or mouth on it. It was completely white, except for the red markings painted on it. The markings themselves were in the shape of bleeding eyes, in the exact spot where the wearer's eyes would be.

Reiko then pulled out a dusty and tattered piece of paper from the bottom of the box. There was only one sentence on it, which he read aloud to his family.

"It says…'Use with fear'…" Reiko said slowly, confusion dominating his features "What is this thing?"

"We have no clue, but we think it's a link to some sort of hidden powers." Reiko's father explained. "From now on, I want you to carry that with you. I have no clue what it does, but I'm sure you'll figure it out and be able to use it. It will keep you safe on missions where you need to protect yourself or others."

"Wow…thanks guys…I don't really know what to say…" Reiko said, his tone completely genuine. This was the only clue he had as to how his powers worked. If he was lucky, it might just make the hallucinations end.

Reiko went to bed, or at least used pressure points to knock himself out,that night with a smile on his face. He had hope that his nightmares would be over and he could see the world like everybody else. He acted like it wasn't a big deal, but the delusions really bother him. Sometimes he had to root himself to the ground in order not to run. But now, he might not have to ever run again.

* * *

Shang: Ahh, my good Shang, Reiko definately has flaws, which are very evident due to his skill set. Now, and especially later, his taijutsu is very, very slow. Using his genjutsu he is able to make up for it. The tattoo is very important as well though, and you should learn a bit about it later.

Xeno: Glad you and I have the same opinion!


	3. Chapter 3

Well, this might be it for me.

Guys, I need to tell you all something I haven't told anyone. I'm from Texas and, yes, we're doing some preparation work for hurricane Rita. That's right, I'm from the double negative capital of the world. Don't worry about me though, we Texonians (so much cooler than just plain Texans) are known for several things. Large fish, Pecos bill, Cowboys, Chicken Fried Steak, and kicking ass. Now I'll certainly be damned if a tiny storm can stop me from writing, but it might be a while before I can get back to my computer to update, or check any of your wonderful reviews.

About the reviews...KEEP EM COMING! Man you wouldn't believe how much I enjoy reading all these reviews. I actually reread them every day just because they bring me so much happiness. I freaking love you all.

I don't own Naruto. That's all there really is to it.

* * *

"All right!" Naruto yelled excitedly while jumping into the air "I've never been outside Konoha before! This is gonna be awesome!"

"Calm down why don't you." Sakura said to him. She was trying to calm him with words, rather than her fist.

"Yeah dobe, you're being embarrassing." Sasuke said coolly with his hands in his pockets. Naruto would have attacked him but Sakura restrained him.

"It's all right man." Reiko said to Naruto calmly "I haven't ever been outside the village either."

"So you mean to tell me that I'm putting my life in YOUR hands?" Tazuna asked warily.

"Listen up old man, I'm going to be the future hokage so you should start showing some respect to get used to it." Naruto said rather threateningly.

"I wouldn't respect you even if you were the hokage." Tazuna replied "You're nothing but a short brat. It's not like you'll ever be hokage anyway."

"Guess again!" Naruto exclaimed "I'm doing all the right things and I'm doing the fast. Before you know it, you'll be begging me to come and save you from something else."

"Pardon me, but I believe we should get underway now. It's a couple of days until we reach the wave country." Kakashi said, breaking them apart before Naruto killed him.

Traveling turned out to not be so bad. Due to his stealth skills, Reiko was sent ahead to scout around the area while everybody else traveled. With the exception of Tazuna annoying the hell out of Naruto, everything was dandy.

Reiko was some odd number of miles ahead, perched on a tree limb comfortably. He didn't have much to do, so he decided it might be high time he put his skills to the test. He quickly saw and attempted to move in on a deer. He stealthily crept toward where the creature grazed peacefully. It was only a matter of time now. He inched his way closer slowly, not causing even the slightest sound. With one final quick movement, he leapt up onto the deer's back and held on for 'dear' life as the creature sprinted off.

Back with team seven, everybody was recuperating from their attack with the demon brothers. Naruto stood with a kunai in his hand, yelling about some sort of oath or promise. They were just about to trudge on when they heard shouting in the distance.

"YEEEEEHAAAAW!" Reiko yelled as he rode towards his teammates in a somewhat zigzag pattern. As he pulled up to them, he slowed the deer down and stopped him right in front of them. "You all will never guess what I…did…."

"Reiko…." Kakashi said while shaking his head. "From now on, when you keep watch and scout out the area…please do a better job."

"Don't worry captain, I shall increase my alert level tenfold! HI HO SILVER!" Reiko yelled dramatically as he rode the deer off into the woods.

"That guy isn't right in the head…" Sasuke commented more to himself than anybody else.

"You're telling me…" Naruto agreed for once "I'd have to say he went off the deep end a loooong time ago…"

"With that moron scouting out for us, we'll be dead in no time at all." Tazuna said more audibly than he had intended.

The next day, Reiko rejoined the group as they boarded a boat that was headed for the wave country. They all had to restrain Naruto from moving because he almost made the boat tip over. While he had been away, Reiko found that his team had decided to continue the mission despite the situation changing. Frankly, he wouldn't have preferred it any other way.

"Wait a minute, I hear something!" Naruto said, throwing two kunai into a bush suddenly.

Upon further inspections, all that was there was a small white rabbit. While Naruto and Sakura doted over the rabbit, Reiko and Kakashi prepared themselves for the worst. That rabbit was white, which meant it had been raised by somebody indoors for the purpose of a kawamari. There was about to be a battle where they were.

At least they weren't caught totally off guard when they suddenly had to duck under a large sword that flew neatly over their heads and stuck into a tree. Standing on the sword was a tall man who didn't wear a shirt. His face was bandaged from his nose to his chin. For some reason, he was slightly similar to Reiko, except without the hair…or the weirdness.

"Oh man…" Reiko said, practically drooling all over the place "Look at that sword…I bet he could cut ten people in half with one good swipe…"

"Reiko, I'm pretty sure that's not a good thing." Naruto said warily "I think he's an enemy of Tazuna san's…"

"Yes, and it seems you all will have to die in the process of me killing him…" Zabuza said rather evilly. Suddenly he was standing on top of the water with his hands in a seal.

"_KIRIGAKURE NO JUTSU_" he said, activating the jutsu. Almost immediately, a heavy fog started to roll in

It was at that point where Sasuke started to tremble, the thought of his life being almost totally in Zabuza's hands making him lock up with fear. Reiko seemed to be quite the opposite. He had a large smile on his face, as if enjoying the anticipation.

Team seven was caught completely by surprise when they suddenly had to duck under Zabuza's blade. Behind them Kakashi held Zabuza by the neck with a kunai knife.

"Very clever Kakashi…" Zabuza crowed "you copied my Mizu Bunshin and Kirigakure jutsu and hid yourself while drawing attention to your clone. However…"

"I'm not so easy to fool." Zabuza said, finishing the last sentence from behind Kakashi as the body in front of him turned into water.

Kakashi had to quickly duck to avoid a swing by Zabuza's sword, only to be kicked into the water at least fifty feet away. In an instant Zabuza was on him again, holding him in his water prison jutsu before Kakashi could even move to get up. With a laugh, Zabuza then created another Mizu bunshin that stood leeringly in front of team seven.

In a flash, the bunshin lashed out at Naruto and ripped the headband right off of his head, kicking Naruto away as he did so.

"You brats…you're not even good enough to call yourselves shinobi." Zabuza snarled at them "Being a shinobi isn't about clothes or style, it's about sheer power. None of you have what it takes."

"All of you, get away from here!" Kakashi yelled to them, hoping they would take his advice as Zabuza's mizu bunshin formed in front of them "Once you get a certain distance away, his clone will disappear!"

" Guys…we have two choices." Reiko said, everything about him seeming to change "We can either run…or we can take the limy bastard down…"

Naruto flew in at Zabuza, intent on bringing him down single-handedly in that single frontal assault. His plans were halted however, when Zabuza kicked him in the chest, sending him flying away with blood dribbling out of his mouth.

"Do you even need to ask?" Naruto asked with a grin, picking up his hitae-ate and tying it back around his head dramatically "All right, gather around and listen closely. I have a plan."

"You all are pretty sure of yourselves…" Zabuza said evilly "It appears that you don't care whether you get any older or not. Playing at ninja like it's a child's game…I however, had already dyed my hands red with my enemies' blood."

"The demon Zabuza…" Kakashi said, letting the sentence draw off at the end.

"It seems my reputation precedes me." Zabuza said mockingly.

"Long ago in Kirigakure…" Kakashi explained grimly "the final step toward becoming a full-fledged ninja was the most inhumanly difficult test imaginable."

"So…" Zabuza said "you've heard about our little graduation exercise then…"

"What graduation exercise?" Naruto asked, visibly shaken by the talk of Zabuza being a demon.

"Heh heh heh…" Zabuza chuckled to himself "It's a kind of a killing spree among classmates. Students who'd been friends, eating from the same plate as undergrads, were divided into pairs who were forced to fight against each other…to the death. Think of it. Comrades who had trained together, lived together, shared each other's every hope and dream…"

"Ten years ago, the elders of Kirigakure were forced to enact a sweeping reform of their barbaric graduation ritual." Kakashi continued "Because of the appearance, during the previous year, of a human fiend who made reform essential."

"What kind of reform?" Sakura asked, nervous that they might tell her the answer "What are you talking about? What did the fiend you're talking about do?"

"Without a moment's hesitation…without any hint of a qualm…" Kakashi continued his grim tale "A boy who hadn't even qualified yet as a ninja…butchered over a hundred members of that years graduating class."

"Ahh yes…Good times." Zabuza grinned and let his eyes roll back in his head, reminiscing of that long ago time "I used to have such fun."

Without any warning or signal, Zabuza suddenly flew at Sasuke, elbowing him and then slamming his body into the ground. Naruto quickly went in with several bunshins and overwhelmed Zabuza. The mist demon merely destroyed them all with a few strokes of his blade, sending the real Naruto flying backwards. At that time, Naruto threw Sasuke a fuuma shuriken as he rolled away.

"_DEMON WIND SHURIKEN: WINDMILL OF SHADOWS"_ Sasuke proclaimed as he unfurled the weapon and hurled it straight at the real Zabuza, who still held Kakashi prisoner.

"At least you had sense enough to zero in on my true form." Zabuza said as he caught the shuriken with his free hand "Amateur."

Zabuza had to suddenly think quickly as another shuriken flew at him directly in his blind spot. The assassin only jumped over it, the feeble attempt to destroy him completely averted. It was only then that he felt a weight on his back lift. Looking back he saw none other than a shirtless, red headed boy struggling to hold his sword up.

"Sorry dude." Reiko said with a grin "But I like this sword waaay too much to not have lifted it off you at least for a little while."

Naruto then activated the third phase of his plan and released his henge as a shuriken. Before he could even touch the water, he threw a single kunai at Zabuza's back while he was vulnerable.

Zabuza had no other choice but to release the water prison and dodge to the side to avoid it. The kunai merely nicked his cheek, but that was enough to set him off. In a rage, he wheeled around to throw the shuriken in his hand directly at Reiko, who was still unbalanced by the weight. He didn't make it however as a familiar presence stopped him in mid-swing.

Reiko was swimming for dear life, trying to desperately hold Zabuza's gargantuan sword all the while. He didn't even know what was going on for a while until a very large wave started to build up behind him. In a sudden stroke of genius, he whipped the blade out in front of him and laid on top of it, paddling for dear life. As the wave started to pick up, he stood up warily, letting the blade carry him to the shore.

"WAAHOOO!" He yelled as he scooped up a floundering Naruto on his way. He didn't count for the wave sending the blade flying into the ground while he and Naruto flew into a tree. Thinking back though, Reiko and Naruto would both agree that it was definitely worth it.

"Reiko kun! Naruto kun!" Sakura exclaimed as she ran over to them to help them up "Are the both of you okay?"

"That was completely gnarly!" Reiko yelled as he untangled himself from the branches of the tree. "Man I hope I can get an awesome sword like that one day!"

After they picked themselves up, they went back to watch Kakashi finish off Zabuza. It looked like he had it in the bag, when suddenly several needles flew straight through Zabuza's throat, making his eyes bulge out before he fell to the ground. Kakashi quickly checked his pulse before proclaiming him dead.

"Heh, It looks like your prediction came true Kakashi." Said a strange masked figure from a tree branch. "Thank you for your help. I hope you don't mind my interfering. I wanted the satisfaction of killing Zabuza myself.

"That mask is familiar…" Kakashi said, thinking on the matter "Correct me if I'm wrong…but aren't you a hunter nin from Kirigakure?"

"Well aren't you the smart one?" The masked figure said. Nobody could tell if the figure was being sarcastic or not. "I am indeed from the elite tracking unit of Kirigakure. It is our duty to hunt down and eliminate rogues and outlaws."

"What's going on here! Who are you!" Naruto exclaimed at the newcomer "He killed Zabuza but he's only about my age! What's up with that?"

"Naruto…" Kakashi said, ruffling his hair "This isn't the last time you run into shinobi who are both younger than you and stronger than me."

"Now, if you will be so kind as to hand me his sword, I will take his body and dispose of the remains." The figure said, slumping Zabuza's body over it's much smaller frame.

"Aaawww man! Do I have to give it back?" Reiko whined, "I really, really, really, like this sword! Are you sure you need it?"

"In order to erase his existence, I need to dispose of the sword as well as his body." The hunter explained calmly.

"Fine…here it is…" Reiko said, handing over the sword reluctantly "But I must say that I do not approve of disposing such a work of art."

"I'll keep that in mind." The figure said, securing Zabuza's sword "Well, I must be off."

With that, the hunter was gone with Zabuza's corpse and his sword, leaving Reiko to nearly burst into tears at the thought of that sword being destroyed. Before they could even say anything however, Kakashi passed out right in front of them.

* * *

Well, that's my momma. 

Shang: Glad to see you like it. I like it alot too. As for Naruto getting owned...Reiko just beat him to it. They knew he was about to do it so Sakura beat him up preemtively. As for the mask...you are soooo gonna see.

TwilightSoulTaker: A reviewer who understand me and my style and isn't Shang. I am so happy that you like the story. I'm happy you took the time to review. I'm happy you see why I didn't give Reiko a shirt. Prepare for more hilarity in later chapters, and more seriousness-ss, but mostly hilarity and ass kicking.

Xeno: I wouldn't dream of it.

Blu Rose: WOOHOO! I LIKE BEING EXUBERANT TOO! HERE'S MY UPDATE! HOPE YOU LIKE IT!

Keep on tranglin people!


	4. Chapter 4

HEYO!

I'm back now, and I survived both hurricane Rita and internet problems that I only recently fixed. Don't worry about it though, because I'm back and I'm better than ever. Thanks to all my reviewers. You keep me goin man.

I don't own Naruto. If I did, I would have tried to take over the world with it by now.

* * *

"Are you al right Sensei?" Tsuname, Tazuna's 28 year old daughter, asked sweetly, her soft voice full of genuine care.

"No, but I will be…in about a week…" Kakashi half mumbled from under his prison of blankets that were ever threatening to strangle him.

"The sharingan eye is an incredible power." Sakura said from his side "But doesn't the strain it puts on your body make you wonder if it's worth it?"

"Well, we took down the strongest of our foes, so we can relax for a while anyway." Tazuna said altruistically.

"Hey, Sakura chan, where's Reiko?" Naruto asked, raising a single eyebrow. Everybody knew that he was hoping the slightly manic young man wasn't lurking in the shadows, trying his best to be an imitation of Zabuza.

"He said he was going to go take a nap and hasn't come back." Sakura said with a slight smile, knowing that everyone's unease was alleviated.

"Why don't you go and get him, as part of a team, he needs to be here." Kakashi said, almost as if he were dreading the order.

Sakura went out to where she supposed Reiko might be. He had a strange habit of sleeping in trees. At least it wasn't as strange as his other habits, like playing chess with imaginary people and talking to rabbits and fixing pocket watches. She happened to find him sleeping on a branch of a rather large elm tree about ten feet in front of her. She quickly shimmied her way up and moved herself over to where he was.

"Reiko kun, it's time to wake up." Sakura said quietly, shaking him gently with both hands.

She was about to speak again when his eyes suddenly snapped open. Before she even knew it, he had her nailed to a tree with his altered senbon and had one hand holding her head up while holding his free arm ready to plunge another senbon straight through her throat. On his face was nothing but shadow down to his nose, making his eyes invisible.

"Reiko! Wake up!" Sakura pleaded, not really knowing what else to do "Please, it's me, Sakura!"

With a start, he suddenly looked up at her, shock written across his features. He quickly put the senbon away and began pulling the others out.

"Sakura chan!" Reiko exclaimed as he made sure she wasn't hurt "I didn't recognize you at first."

"You didn't recognize me?" Sakura asked confusedly "Why wouldn't you know who I am, and furthermore, why would you attack me like that?"

"Lets just say you look a lot like Medusa at the current moment." Reiko said as she laughed uncomfortably and scratched the back of his head. "We should get going, I'm assuming Kakashi sensei needs me for something."

Sakura shook her head for a second, making sure she wasn't hallucinating or anything. She decided that she wasn't after a time and went back in after Reiko, still not really knowing just what had transpired except that her life had been in danger. Almost immediately, she wished she hadn't because she entered in almost complete pandemonium.

"ZABUZA COULD STILL BE ALIVE? HELL YEAH!" Reiko yelled exuberantly "That sword of his was awesome dammit! I might just get a chance to steal it again!"

"Reiko…I don't think you're taking this news like you probably should…" Kakashi said, sighing as he did so.

"What do you mean? Zabuza's awesome!" Reiko said before making a fist and holding it out in front of him in a pose of declaration "From now on, I deem Zabuza as my mentor, even if we have to kill him."

"You are such an idiot." Sasuke said shortly before returning back to his cool and collected state of being.

"So, big bad Uchiha san speaks…" Reiko said with a smirk "I was starting to think you didn't have a voice."

"…" Sasuke didn't do anything, seeing that his insults didn't have nearly as much affect on Reiko as it did on Naruto.

"At any rate, I'm upping all of your training schedules." Kakashi explained with his calm demeanor.

"But Kakashi sensei, what will a little extra training now matter with what we're up against!" Sakura exclaimed worriedly "Our opponent is a ninja so powerful that with you Sharingan mirror-eye power, he almost defeated you!"

"But while I was down, who rescued me?" Kakashi asked, sitting himself up slowly, the motion defiantly taxing him.

"That was us, yeah, we're freakin' awesome. Glad to get some gratitude for that." Reiko butted in as they knew he would.

"Trust me." Kakashi said with a smirk "The skills I teach you now will only tide you over until I get better."

"Training? WOOHOO!" Naruto yelled in excitement, heading toward the door and not even waiting for Kakashi to get his stilts.

After they shot Naruto up with anti-depressants, otherwise known asSakura's fists, he calmed down enough to understand the exercise that lay at hand. They were tree climbing using chakra concentrated in one's feet. Sakura was already the best at it, but she stayed and trained with the boys for a time anyway. They couldn't tell if she just wanted to be around Sasuke, or she pitied them.

Naruto was barely sticking to the tree at all, Sasuke was using too much chakra, and Reiko…well, he was somewhere in between. He would run up for a while, and get further than either two boys, and then all the sudden fall off without any warning. Needless to say, he was a little bit more beat up than the other two.

In the evenings, all three boys would come in extremely bruised and hungry. In unison they would eat their food as fast as they could, and then throw it up in buckets that had been previously set up for this purpose exactly.

"So, how's your training been going?" Tsunami asked as she served the food to three exhausted boys.

"It's great!" Said Naruto exuberantly with a big smile on his face like always "I can tell I'm getting really strong. Next time we fight Zabuza, we'll take him down for sure!"

"Why do you wear yourself out for no reason?" Inari, Tazuna's grandson suddenly yelled at him, completely enraged at something or other "You act all cool, and talk big, but big strong guys like that are always too much for people who are weaker than them! They'll destroy you!"

"Shut up." Naruto said tiredly as he laid his head on the table "There's no way I'm gonna lose to them."

"Just watching you ticks me off!" Inari yelled at him, his anger not yet quelled "You go running your mouth when you don't know a thing!"

With a sudden movement that even Kakashi didn't see, Reiko suddenly had the boy by the collar and was holding him off the ground at eye level. His eyes were burning with something nobody had seen before. His whole aura was completely different. A sinister air hung about him now, only recognizable by Sakura, who experienced it when she had woken him up that one evening.

"Just what the hell makes you think you know about pain?" Reiko asked through gritted teeth.

Everybody in the room was completely frozen at this behavior. They were caught so off guard that they just didn't know what to do. The only person who so much as breathed was Inari, who was trembling with fear.

"You bitch and you moan about everything, but have you ever taken up arms against that which pains you!" Reiko asked, pulling him closer to his face and yelling directly into his wide eyes "You're nothing but a damn weakling! You make me sick to my stomach just by having your filthy presence within any of my senses! It's trash like you that gives the entire human race a bad name!"

By that time Sakura had Reiko in a throat bar from behind and Kakashi was trying to free Inari from his grasp, but neither seemed to be able to. It was as if his muscles were suddenly reinforced by steel. Naruto was almost in the same shock as Inari. Sasuke was actually trembling from the evil aura that hung in the air, but would of course never admit it.

Suddenly, as if his body suddenly deflated, he let Inari go of his own free will and fell backwards into Sakura. Inari backed away with tears in his eyes before he just ran out the back door. It was then that everybody turned to Reiko, who couldn't even support himself without Sakura's help. He was holding a hand over his eyes, which seemed rather odd.

"Someone get me a rag please." Was all he managed to mumble out. Tsunami immediately went and got a cold cloth, which she handed to him with trembling hands.

Without another word, he took the rag and stumbled out of Sakura's grasp, towards the washroom. For the rest of the night, they never saw, nor heard anything indicating that he was there. For all they knew, he was completely dead.

Reiko was passed out in the middle of the woods. Since the incident with Inari, he had been training alone. He had already gotten the tree climbing exercise down, but was just training other things now. He wasn't exactly sure where he was or when he passed out. His consciousness drifted through another plane as his body did it's best to heal itself.

While he was sleeping, he felt the presence of another enter the clearing. It took a while for him to register that the entity was getting closer and closer to him. By the time he finally realized it, the person was right on top of him. It took another second to snap his eyes open with his senbon ready. It took almost no time at all to stay his hand as he looked upon the being in front of him.

She was like an angel in his dark world. Around her, everything was the same as always. Hellish. But she…none of the delusions he normally suffered seemed to affect her. He looked deep into her black eyes, gazed upon her milky white skin and red lips. He could catch a smell of her raven black hair that fell around his face. As she smiled at him kindly, some pain inside of him seemed to go away.

"You'll catch your death of cold if you sleep on the ground like that." She said to him, her pure voice singing through the air like a kunai.

Reiko didn't reply for a long time. He merely stared at the beauty in front of him and contemplated what she could be. Could this be a trick of the hallucinations? No. His gut instinct told him that she was real enough.

"What's the matter? Are you hurt or something?" The deity asked him, her voice alleviating all things wrong in the outside world.

"Are you…" Reiko began, not sure if he should ask what was on his mind. "Are you real?"

The girl merely smiled again and touched the side of his face with her soft gentle hand. Her touch sent electricity up Reiko's spine. His fingers twitched slightly.

"I'm as real as you are silly." She said to him, not caring about his strange question at all.

In the next hour he had picked several armfuls of different herbs and weeds that the angel had said were medicinal. For Reiko, he was happy, yet cautious. Surely this girl was too beautiful to be true.

"Did I get enough for whatever it is you need them for?" Reiko asked with a smile as he set the plants down in front of her.

"My goodness!" She said, slightly surprised at the astounding quantity of herbs he had gotten "This is plenty. With all of these, I could probably open my own hospital."

"It was some job you took on, so early in the morning like that." Reiko said as he sat down in front of her.

"You're one to talk!" She said jokingly "What were you doing here in the middle of nowhere at the crack of dawn."

"Me? I was just doing some training." Reiko said coolly, not wanting to blow it by saying something stupid.

"Really?" She asked "That headband…are you some sort of ninja or something?"

"Why, yes, I happen to be a shinobi of Konohagakure." Reiko said with a smile, scratching the back of his head.

"What would you be training for that would make you pass out like that?" The girl asked gently.

"I'm training so that I can be strong enough to overcome what I must." Reiko said, his smile turning into a smirk.

"But…" She stammered, clearly confused "You look so strong and manly already! Why would someone like you need more strength?"

"Because I'm merely an insignificant speck of a shinobi compared to what I need to be." Reiko said, looking off into the distance "I haven't even begun to see how insignificant I really am…"

"Are you doing all this for yourself, or for somebody you care about?" The girl asked gently.

Reiko looked at her confusedly for a second, not really understanding what she was going on about. With a quick look at her face, she decided to explain what she meant.

"When people are protecting something precious to them…" The girl said with a weak smile "They can truly become as strong as they must be. So I ask you this: Do you have anybody special in your life?"  
Reiko thought back through his life, looking at all the people he had met and everything he had done. Nobody in particular stood out. Nothing he had was especially dear to him, except maybe his parents, but he could tell this was different from that.

"No…" Reiko said finally, looking down at the ground "I don't have anybody very special to me…I hope that I might one day though…"

"Well when you find them, I'm positive you'll become stronger." The girl said, picking up the herbs and standing up "I'm sure we'll meet again someday."

"I think I'd like that very much miss." Reiko said with a smile, while still sitting down.

"Well you should know then…" She said as she turned and walked off "I'm a boy."

Reiko smirked to himself as he walked off. He didn't believe that for a second. Just as she left his sight, however, he found himself in the same hell that he always lived in, the darkness always threatening to devour him.

* * *

ALLRIGHT! REVIEWER RESPONSES!

Shang: yeah...Me and the laws of physics never agreed very well. But I'm pretty sure if the wave was big enough and moving fast enough, which it probably wasn't, the sword would be able to act as a surfboard. It was just entertaining so I threw it in.

Blu Rose: Ah, thank you for your enthusiasm. Now I just have to concentrate on what I'm going to 'doe' with the later chapters.

TwilightSoulTaker: Thank you for both the praise and envoking the wrath of the squirrels. We're all insane to a certain extent, and if it takes a man a fortnite to walk a mile, how many apples in a barrel of grapes? There's probably more purpose in a kitkat wrapper than in that last sentence...

READ AND REVIEW FOR THE LOVE OF SOFT DRINKS! KEEP ON TRANGLIN!


	5. Chapter 5

Ahhh, at last I return.

After much time away from my computer and one grounding, I have at last come bringing tidings of new stories. All is good in the world as far as I'm concerned. Nothing has really happened while I was away either. Pity really...but you people don't care about that! You want action, plot holes, and stupid jokes.

Disclaimer- didn't own it then, don't own it now, won't own it yesterday. Stop asking.

* * *

Reiko walked back to Tazuna's house on the night of the seventh day they had been training. He had been gone for three days straight, with nobody actually looking for him. Memories of the incident with Inari came flooding back to him.

"Where have you been? We've all been worried sick about you!" Sakura berated as soon as he got in.

"I've been training." Reiko said with a shrug "I got the tree climbing thing down about four days ago, but decided to keep on training anyway. Every little bit helps you know."

"Well come and sit down. I'm sure you didn't have a decent meal while you were out there." Tsunami said in that lovingly annoyed way that only mothers can "I'm also very sure you haven't had a decent bath by the smell of you."

"Actually, I ate a few squirrels and rabbits and bathed in a nearby pond." Reiko said as he sat down with a smile "I try to take care of myself as best I can you know."

That night everybody had a nice dinner together, laughing and enjoying each other's company. After dinner was over however, all three boys retired to their beds, completely wiped out from the intense training they were undergoing.

The next morning everybody, with the exception of Naruto, headed for the bridge. Reiko was being much more calm than he normally was, which nobody commented on, for fear that it might go away.

What they found at the bridge was completely different than what they expected however. Like slaughtered lambs, the crew that had been working on the bridge lay before them in pieces. Before they could do anything though, the mist began to roll in. The demon Zabuza was among them.

"Kakashi sensei!" Sakura exclaimed, her very bones shaking "Is this Zabuza's Kirigakure technique?"

"It's been a while Kakashi." Zabuza's voice said, permeating through the mist "I see you've brought those brats along with you, just like last time. The boy is shaking again, poor thing…"

At that exact moment, they were surrounded by bunshins of Zabuza, each poised to attack on any signal.

Deciding to show off, Sasuke quickly eliminated them all, barely breaking a sweat as the water fell to the ground.

"It seems these brats have matured into worthy rivals, eh Haku?" Zabuza said to the masked figure from before who was standing at his side.

"Indeed." Said the masked figure.

Almost instantly, Reiko froze. Everything around him was chaotic, like normal, except for the masked boy. His thoughts suddenly flashed back to the girl in the woods. That's right, he refused to accept the being as anything but a female. Call it intuition, call it ignorance. The fact was, nothing so beautiful could possibly be male.

"I'm taking this one." Sasuke said as he suddenly stepped forward to face his new opponent, excited at the chance to show his strength.

Sasuke ran to face Haku while Zabuza stepped in front of Kakashi, blocking him off from Sasuke. Reiko walked up and stood at Kakashi's side while Sakura guarded Tazuna.

"Reiko, get back and help Sakura protect Tazuna." Kakashi said coolly to Reiko "Zabuza is way to powerful for you. You'll only get in the way."

"I'm not missing a chance to face my mentor in a battle, even if I am a liability." Reiko said evenly "Besides, with a single touch of my hand, I can put him in a genjutsu. All I would need is your help for the opening."

"Mentor?" Zabuza asked confusedly "Kid, I think you've got some serious problems concerning myself and my sword. If you try to take me on, I'll kill you."

"I'm not scared of death, blades, or men with no eyebrows." Reiko said with a smirk as he calmly lifted his hands into a single seal.

"Kakashi, it seems this one brat is the most amusing in your little squad." Zabuza laughed, "I was also told of your admiration of my sword brat. What do you think of it cleaving your head off?"

"I'd think it wasn't the first time my head's been plucked off." Reiko said with a smirk "But you are right, your sword and your fighting style have completely captivated me."

"Ha!" Zabuza snorted, "Kid, I think you'd make a worthy apprentice. How about I rid you of this pathetic team of yours and take you with me?"

"Sorry sensei." Reiko replied, "I'm on a mission. No matter what, the mission is what's important. If we'd met on different circumstances, it would be another matter completely."

At that exact moment, Sasuke suddenly became entrapped in what looked like a cage of ice panels and was taking the beating of his life. All one could truly see were the needles flying at the figure of Sasuke in the center, but you knew that it had to hurt.

"Remember, any sudden moves and the other two behind you die." Zabuza said to them evilly.

"Kakashi, help me get over there and I'll get Sasuke out." Reiko said firmly "Just get a plan and I'll follow along."

"This could be a little bit of trouble right here." Kakashi said as the mist started to roll in, making everything around him obscured.

Kakashi suddenly took Reiko by the hand and swung him around before throwing him through the air towards the ice prison. On his way, Reiko put up a genjutsu around himself as he fell right through the ice panels to grab Sasuke.

Reiko had the Uchiha over his shoulder and was about to leave when a senbon shot through his hand, causing him to drop Sasuke to the ground. He didn't even turn around to face Haku. He simply pulled the senbon out of his hand and stretched it a little bit.

"It was very foolish of you to come in here boy." Haku said rather tauntingly "I don't want to have to kill you, but if you leave me no choice, I'll think nothing more of it."

"Is that so Haku?" Reiko asked, turning around to face Haku as he spoke "So I guess your precious person is Zabuza."

"That is correct. Zabuza san pulled me out of the gutter and taught me everything I know." Haku said evenly, his once angelic voice now cold "I see you've taken a liking to him as well. That's just too bad, you being the enemy and all."

"Haku…I'm glad I learned your name before I have to defeat you." Reiko said with a sad smile as Haku disappeared into the mirrors.

"Yo!" Said Naruto's voice suddenly from Reiko's side. "All right! It's time for Uzumaki Naruto to save the day!"

It was then that a barrage of senbon needles rained down upon them from all sides, deliberately sticking in non-vital areas of their bodies. There was no way to dodge or run, only wait and get hit.

"Damn, what the hell is this guy doing." Naruto asked as he stood up shakily after that barrage.

"Our opponent uses these mirrors to teleport between them and throw senbon at us from all directions at once." Reiko explained.

"_KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU_" Naruto yelled, creating several clones that attacked the mirrors "If he's using the mirrors, we'll just smash 'em to bits!"

Then the senbon came again. Naruto found himself cringing in preparation for pain that never came. Upon slowly opening his eyes, he found Reiko standing over him, having taken all the senbon for him.

"Go…get em'…Naruto…" Reiko said as blood trailed out of his mouth and he fell to the ground with a thud.

"Oh what a pity." Haku said, appearing before Naruto, who was sitting over Reiko's lifeless body with tears in his eyes. "He was a much better shinobi than you or the others you know. It's really a shame that he had to die."

Before Haku knew what was happening, an evil chakra was resonating from Naruto's body. Reiko slowly half opened his eyes to witness a demonic Naruto beat the ever-loving snot out of Haku. He couldn't help but feel bad about letting the only person who outshone the demons that plagued him die. With new fortitude, he got up. His back was a pincushion, but that didn't stop him. He had already decided what he was going to do.

Kakashi stood in front of Zabuza with his Raikiri fired up and ready to plunge through a heart. Copycat Kakashi ran towards Zabuza with all his speed, ready for the final blow. What he didn't see was Haku come through an ice mirror to his side. He WAS able to see Reiko coming in from his other side, directly towards his attack. In a last minute effort, he curved his Raikiri off, letting it gash Haku deeply in the chest before burying over half of his arm into the ground.

Zabuza took the opportunity to slash Kakashi in half and took it, only failing because Kakashi was much too quick. The copy ninja merely jumped backwards through the air. As he landed, Zabuza was right on top of him with his blade flying. With all the quickness he could muster, Kakashi dodged and stabbed Zabuza's arms through with kunai.

"There go your arms Zabuza." Kakashi said to the demon of the mist "No more swords, no jutsus, and no katas, and Haku is most likely dead. You have lost."

"Well he's certainly made a fine mess out of you." A new voice said from the other side of the bridge "What a pity."

Upon turning, all of them found a short man with a walking stick standing in front of an army of thugs and samurai. He seemed far too smug to be just a passerby.

"Gato…What are you doing here?" Zabuza asked angrily "Why did you bring all of them."

"You're going to die demon, here and now." Gato sneered gleefully "I'm sure you've guessed that I've had this in mind the whole time. I never intended to pay you. Shinobi from villages are very expensive, and they tend to have friends who object to me killing them. It's so much simpler to hire you Nukenin. Nobody cares what I do to your kind once the job is done."

"Forgive me Kakashi…" Zabuza said, standing to his full height with his arms dangling uselessly to his sides, "It seems our fight is over now."

"Now, where's that little brat that broke my hand? I have a score to settle" Gato said, looking around for Haku.

"HOW DARE YOU SAY SUCH THINGS YOU CREEP!" Naruto yelled as he tried to run at him, only to be stopped by Kakashi.

"Cool down Naruto, there are a lot of them and a few of us." Kakashi said, trying his best to stop the enraged blonde.

"Why don't you do something!" Naruto yelled at Zabuza, who stood defeated not twenty feet away. "He was practically your slave!"

"What do you want me to do?" Zabuza asked coldly without turning around "Haku is dead."

"But you should care! That fat scumbag is desecrating his good name!" Naruto continued to yell. "He was your comrade…your partner…He worked for you for years!"

"Gato's been using me, and I used Haku." Zabuza explained, impassionate to Naruto's words. "I didn't value Haku for himself, but for the taint his blood carried and what his talents could do for me. I apologize for nothing."

"Are you serious?" Naruto asked dazedly "Do you honestly believe that he was nothing?"

"Stop it Naruto! Leave him alone. Our quarrel is over." Kakashi said to him, trying his best to calm him down.

"SHUTUP!" Naruto yelled, pointing at Zabuza, who didn't move at all "HE'S STILL MY ENEMY!"

Everybody's ears were glued to Naruto. Some were uncaring, others were moved. But no conscious soul there didn't listen to what he had to say at the least.

"Haku loved you!" Naruto continued, "He was devoted to you! But you think that's just nothing, that he was nothing! You don't feel a thing! Are you really that heartless? Is that how you get when your powers are as strong as you are? He gave his life for you! He died without his dreams ever coming true…that's too much, too cruel…"

"Kid…" Zabuza said suddenly, turning around to show tears streaming down his dirty face "Not…another word…"

It seemed like everything stopped at that point, where the demon Zabuza shed tears for a person. It was probably the most rare and beautiful thing they had ever seen. Like a man who doesn't realize what he has until it's gone, Zabuza wept for Haku.

"What Haku did was not just for me." Zabuza went on "While we fought, he broke his heart over you and your friends. That's the truth. He was too kind, too gentle. I'm glad my last battle was against you."

Naruto smiled weakly at Zabuza's speech. Under the surface, Zabuza was no different from any of them. He tried his best to hide it in order to be a shinobi, but every man has a breaking point.

"Say what we will, do what we will, in the end we shinobi are still just people after all…with feelings all to human…and I've lost everything…" Zabuza said, undoing the bandages around his face with his teeth "Now, would you lend me your kunai?"

Naruto realized what was going to happen before it actually did happen. Some part of couldn't deny Zabuza his death though, and he begrudgingly threw Zabuza the kunai, watching it all the way. What nobody saw until the last minute was the kunai fall into a hand, intercepting it perfectly.

"No." Reiko said, clutching the kunai in his hand. Many of the senbon were still protruding from his back "I respect the demon Zabuza too much to allow his death to happen right in front of me."

"It's you again…" Zabuza said, "It's over boy. Haku is dead and I have nothing left. Let me die the way I want to."

"Now you see…I wish for the life of Haku as well…" Reiko said with a smirk as he stared in to the sky for a second "And so, I tell you that Haku is very much alive."

Zabuza's eyes widened. Nobody could tell exactly what he was feeling. Was it happiness? Was it surprise? In the end, it probably didn't matter anyway.

"Go to Haku, Zabuza sensei." Reiko said calmly, fixing his hateful gaze upon the army of men in front of him "I shall drive off these fools on my own."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Kakashi asked, incredulous. It was very possible that Reiko had gone insane and was preparing to kill himself "There's no way you could take them all out by yourself!"  
"With my own pain…" Reiko said as he pulled out the mask his parents had given him. He stared at it for a long time, a look of fear dominating his features. "…I will gain power, and raze all of these infidels."

Suddenly, Reiko jerked his head into the mask as if he expected it to hurt him. For a second nothing happened. In another second his veins turned black all over his torso and neck. It took less than a second for his body to start convulsing, and almost immediately after that, his screams of pain began echoing across the bridge. He clawed at his own flesh, tried to get the mask off, tried to end his tormenting pain.

Nobody knew what to do. They wanted to help, but knew that nothing they could do would be any kind of aid. Reiko was at the mercy of his own mind at the moment. Only he could overcome it.

Reiko suddenly wrapped his arms around his body, hugging himself tightly. From a distance he looked like a strange colored cocoon with a mask on. Then his body began to emit blue flames, covering his skin, but not burning him. That was when the explosion took place. Everyone was enveloped in Reiko's chakra without any warning, giving some burns, and others the chills.

"He's….a demon…" Zabuza said in awe as he watched what was right in front of him.

Reiko ran forward wildly at the thugs, baring only his fists and feet at them. The first line tried to stop his advance with their blades, but he merely jumped over them and ripped off two of the assailant's heads with his open hands. He fought his way through the rest of the crowd, ripping out a heart here, tearing off a limb there. It all went by so fast, Gato didn't even know he was being thrown into the ground until after he had already hit.

"MAY THE DEMONS OF HELL DRINK DEEPLY OF YOUR BLOOD!" Reiko screamed at him with one fist raised. His voice was cracking and unsteady, proving to any doubters that he wasn't in the right frame of mind. With one clean punch, he smashed Gato's head in. With about a hundred more, he reduced the former business tycoon into a bloody smear.

At that point the thugs tried to turn tail and run. You couldn't hardly blame them, after seeing a man's body be crushed in a boy's bare hands. None of them made it though. They were all torn to pieces before they could get the chance to defend themselves. Once there was nothing left to fight Reiko clawed away at his face until the mask came off.

"Oh my god…" Naruto gasped, seeing Reiko now " Kakashi sensei…what's happening to him? Why is he doing that?"

"It's his bloodline Naruto…" Kakashi said grimly "His pain and fear have caused him to lose control of himself and release a very dangerous power…He can turn what he sees into a reality…"

Reiko stood slumped over in front of them, covered in blood. His eyes were bleeding tears, and his body language told them that he was in pain. Naruto stepped forward to help him, but a large senbon suddenly stuck into the ground in front of him.

"Stay back!" Reiko yelled at him "All of you stay back! I don't believe in you! You can't hurt me!"

"Reiko-" Naruto began, but was cut off when a senbon lodged itself painfully into his shoulder.

"KEEP QUIET!" Reiko screamed at him "If any of you so much as move, I will plant these senbon into your skulls! I swear to god!"

"Reiko san…that's enough." Said a voice from behind everyone. Reiko's eyes grew even wider, but he didn't attack at the sound of the voice.

Haku slowly walked towards Reiko, holding a hand over the gash gained from Kakashi's Raikiri. Reiko didn't attack, or yell. He didn't let down his guard either though, and everybody was in suspense.

"Are you one of them?" Reiko asked nervously, motioning towards the others around them. "You don't look like one of them. How can I trust you?"

"You just have to Reiko san." Haku said with a smile as he suddenly collapsed into Reiko, who caught his friend easily before laying the body down on the ground gently.

"Thank you Haku…" Reiko said, almost inaudibly as he suddenly blacked out and fell to the ground with a thud. The hell in which he lived in, was now someplace far away, allowing him to sleep in the peace he had never known before.

* * *

Shang: Allright Shang friend. To be honest, I know what you're saying, and I do put a whole lot of thought into the things I alter within the story. But lets face it, if I left the story the same, it would be the same story, and there would be no point in reading it. All I can tell you to do is trust me.

Xeno: I knew you were crazier than you let on...thank you...

Blu Rose: Hooray for updates! I did it!

TwilightSoulTaker: Violence is the only thing bonding me with my sanity...or maybe that's Hellsing...at any rate, trangle on!

icydragon14: ahh...fresh reviewer meat. Your request is done. Simple as that.


	6. Chapter 6

Well, it's been a while...

To all my reviewers, I have to apologize. Due to certain circumstances involving my computer and it's connection to the internet, I was completely cut off from updating. All I can ask is that you don't forget about this story and continue to read.

You'll notice in this chapter I've done some things that probably don't fit in very well with the Narutoverse. Up until now I was getting the story almost straight from the manga, but now I'm going off into uncharted territory. It is very likely I'm going to get flames for the things I'm going to do here, and it is also a likely possibility that many of you will lose all faith in me and quit reading. All I can say to this is you will be missed. I like the story the way it is and that's how I've decided it's going to stay. I apologize if it's not to your liking.

I don't own nothin man.

* * *

"Ugh…" Reiko groaned as he woke up in a soft bed. He could tell there were people around him, but he didn't know who. His thoughts suddenly drifted to his mask "Where's my mask?"

"Your mask is just fine. We picked it up and carried it back for you." A gruff voice said from his bedside.

Reiko slowly opened his eyes to find Zabuza and Haku sitting on either side of him. Zabuza had his arms crossed over his chest, while Haku was smiling and humming some tune. They were so very different from each other.

"Zabuza sensei? Haku chan? What are you two doing here?" Reiko asked quickly, hoping he hadn't been voluntarily kidnapped. He wouldn't get paid for the job.

"First off, we're in Tazuna's house, which he graciously allowed us to stay in, and second, Haku is a boy. I'm sure you've already been through that last one though." Zabuza said, being back to his old self without the evilness and the mission to kill him.

"Haku is a girl." Reiko said with a smirk as he closed his eyes "Now that I know the truth, you can just ask her. She'll tell you."

"Haku?" Zabuza asked suspiciously with one eyebrow raised. He always knew Haku was slightly feminine, but just figured there was something wrong with him. This kid had proved to be pretty smart however, so Zabuza considered it a question worth asking.

"Well…" Haku said, sighing and looking down at the floor. Finally deciding on something, Haku reached back and untied something, adding breasts to his figure. "Yeah…I'm a girl…"

"…" Was the only thing that Zabuza could say for the moment. He just stared at Haku's breasts for a long time. It would have been understandable had it been in a sexual way, but the thought that was going through his head was 'Those are NOT supposed to be there on guys.'. Guess anyone can be surprised given a long enough life.

"Don't worry Haku chan, if you don't want me to tell anybody, I won't." Reiko said with a smile "I understand your reasons for hiding your true gender. Though I must say you make a pretty sad imitation of a boy."

"I suppose it's okay now." Haku said, her voice not changing at all "Especially with the situation we talked over with Kakashi."

"What are you talking about?" Reiko asked confusedly. The two of them plotting things was slightly unnerving, giving their recent situation.

"We're going to train you kid." Zabuza said flatly as if it didn't mater to him. "You did say you'd like to learn from me. That and you keep calling me sensei…"

"You'll…train…me?" Reiko asked, barely being able to get the words out. His eyes were as wide as dinner plates, but not bleeding.

"Yes. We'll be living on the outskirts of Konoha so we can train you." Haku explained "Kakashi san is going to report us as dead, so the hunters won't be after us anymore."

"Do I get to learn how to wield oversized swords of mass destruction and chaos?" Reiko asked hopefully. That was his one main wish after all, aside from all the different suiton jutsus, which he also liked a lot.

"We're already on top of that kid." Zabuza said, picking up something from under the bed. In a flash there was a longsword stabbed into the bed, mere inches away from Reiko's head. It didn't bother him so much because he was staring up at the sword. "This, is your sword."

"I love you Zabuza sensei." Reiko said very calmly making Zabuza and Haku doubt whether he was joking or not.

In his defense, it was a nice sword. It was just long enough for his height, though not nearly as wide as Zabuza's sword. It was by no means a cleaver, but it was at least two katanas wide, which was plenty good enough for Reiko.

"I feel like the luckiest guy in the world…" Reiko said, a smile all over his face. " I'm going to learn how to skewer people on a large sword and then wash them off with a kick ass suiton jutsu."

"Wow…for a kid, you understand the system pretty well." Zabuza said while scratching the back of his head. "But I understand that you are typically a genjutsu user, which neither of us use. For any of your genjutsu training, you have to do that somewhere else."

"No problem sensei!" Reiko said cheerfully as he used his sword to pull himself out of bed. "Hey, I can't see it too well so I'm gonna ask you guys. How are those senbon wounds on my back healing up?"

"Rather nicely actually." Haku said coolly "By the way, I am very sorry for that. Though you should know that if I had been using senbon like yours, you would be very, very dead. Naruto's shoulder hasn't completely healed up yet after you hit him with one."

"He's probably gonna be pissed off at me for that. I've limited his ability to train." Reiko said nervously. "At any rate, when do I start my 'kick your ass without you ever knowin it' training'?"

"Tomorrow." Zabuza said calmly "We're staying here for two weeks to recuperate before we head to Konoha."

"SWEET!" Reiko yelled, jumping into the air in pure happiness "I'm gonna get to be so awesome after just two weeks alone, it'll be hard to describe my raw irresistibility."

At that point in time, Zabuza just walked off. He didn't say anything, or give clear indication as to what he was doing. He just left. In the future, Reiko would look back on that moment as the first of many, MANY, times that Zabuza would do that. You couldn't hardly blame the guy. He was just uncomfortable around the sheer weirdness that seeped from Reiko like the worlds most ineffective sponge. Haku was merely silent.

Stepping outside, Reiko immediately noticed that everybody had been waiting for him, including Naruto, who had his shoulder in a harness. It wasn't as if everybody had been hoping he would get better, but just hoping they could talk to him. After the stunt he pulled on the bridge, it was to be expected. For a time, no words were exchanged, and nobody's gaze left Reiko's. Seeing this, Reiko did the only thing he knew to do. He opened his big mouth.

"So, what's for dinner?" He asked amiably while scratching the back of his head. It took a second, but everybody visibly brightened. It was good to have him back.

The next two weeks constituted training and eating. Reiko began learning the basics of large weapon fighting, along with the steps to perform Kirigakure correctly. He was drained at the end of every day, but enjoyed it nonetheless. He was learning from the demon of the mist after all.

Kakashi kept up his training on all of his students, including Reiko. Zabuza and Kakashi had come to an understanding as to the training of team seven, or rather Reiko. Zabuza could teach what he wanted, when he wanted, so long as it didn't interfere with Kakashi's training regimen, which was mostly chakra control work. Reiko didn't mind at all, even though he was being worked to death.

Tazuna eventually finished his bridge, with one of his main workers being Zabuza. It shocked everybody else too, but Tazuna got the idea that Zabuza wanted to make up for nearly killing them all. It helped everybody around him to understand that Zabuza wasn't a bad person, just a man with a job. In fact, just about everybody would agree that Zabuza was pretty damn nice to have around. His overall presence was like that of a father who watches over his children. Of course, he was a very detached and stern father, but that was more of a front than anything. Haku could easily attest to him being a big softie underneath it all.

Haku was completely different from Zabuza. It was a wonder they weren't always at each other's throats. Somehow, they had worked out a series of compromises, allowing them each certain liberties and certain boundaries. Zabuza could basically do whatever he wanted, so long as Haku didn't have to clean up after him and take care of him. There were exceptions, like when he was hurt, but that's a little different from going out and getting drunk, then having to fend off the mobs of angry fathers who say that he defiled their daughters…When Haku told that particular story, nobody bought it. All the same, they were almost inseparable, and Reiko's odd personality fit in finely with their little troupe.

After their two weeks of blissful training came to a close, it came time for everybody to say their final goodbyes. They weren't tearful goodbyes, but more like happy ones. Tazuna even gave Zabuza a good hearty pat on the back. They had a strange understanding that only they could really comprehend.

It was then that Inari chose to walk up to Reiko with his head looking down towards the ground. This was their first real contact since the incident where Reiko went a little crazy and yelled at him.

"You know, you were right…I am weak." Inari said, looking down into the dirt as if it was interesting.

"I know…" Reiko said with a grin "But it's okay as long as you understand what it takes to change that."

Inari looked up at him with tears in his eyes. Reiko said the rest of his goodbyes and swiftly moved away before any creepy hugging could happen. Inari looked a little disappointed, but he really didn't care. He had a sword now.

Soon they were all on the road, laughing back and forth with each other and generally having a good time. Reiko kept on babbling about swords and putting things in hell. You know, the normal stuff.

* * *

To all of my reviewers who were good enough to review. I want you to know that the last chapter was extremely confusing, due in no part to the fact that I tried to keep it as close to the original manga as humanly possible. Because of this, an exponentional loss of understanding seemed to be the general consensus. I can only express my deepest apologies and hope you don't hold it against me for long.

Trangle on and on and on...


	7. Chapter 7

Yo

Well I'm back again and I hope I still have alot of my readers. I mean I did throw a surprising curveball in on that last chapter. All I can say is that I did it for a reason, and if you want a hint as to why, I'll say that I did it for the romance part of this story that, believe it or not, does and will exist. I'll leave the rest up to your assumption.

I own neither Naruto or the group x reference in here.

* * *

Reiko had been training with Zabuza for almost a month now, and was now just starting to learn the difficult but powerful Kirigakure no jutsu, and was making good progress with his sword fighting. Every day, he would get off of his mission and go train with Zabuza for about five hours. After that, he would work the night shift at his other job because he didn't sleep much anyway. Face it, when you see nothing but hell around you all the time, it's kind of hard to rest.

On this particularly fine day, Reiko was taking a quiet stroll around his version of Konoha before he met up with Kakashi. It wasn't much different from the normal version, except that it was a fiery burning wasteland. And of course that was a fine day. You'd hate to see what a bad day looked like….

At any rate, on this particularly fine day, Reiko carried his blade naked on his back. He always carried it there, but today, he was looking forward to training with it even more than he usually did. But what did he find standing in his way? Naruto's small friend getting attacked by a strange guy in makeup. Sadly enough, the makeup wasn't a hallucination. Although standing right behind the strange guy was a beautiful woman, whom he intended to meet.

"Why hello there young lady." Reiko said, appearing behind her quite suddenly, as was his training "If I may be so bold, I wish to ask what the strange one is doing to that small child?"

Everybody jumped, namely the girl with four pigtails. Naruto only stared at him for a second. Sakura stared at him for a long time. The boy with the makeup was eyeing Reiko's sword suspiciously, and the pigtail girl seemed to be very nervous. Reiko just couldn't have that, so he decided to be extra polite. He bowed and actually kissed her hand.

Everybody freaked out. Naruto stood there with his jaw open. Sakura looked at him slightly angrily. The boy with the makeup was slightly identical to Naruto, as was his small prey. The girl with the pigtails seemed the least shocked. She actually kept her cool and replied back to him in kind.

"Kankuro, put the boy down." The pig tailed creature ordered the masked creature. He did as he was told. "I'm Temari of the sand, and this is my idiot brother Kankuro."

"Temari…what a nice name. I'm Himura Reiko, of the leaf." Reiko said, standing up smiling. "I believe you've already met my team. This is Uzumaki Naruto and Haruno Sakura. If you were very careful, you might have noticed my other team member, Uchiha Sasuke sitting in that tree over there."

Sasuke grunted at being found. He didn't like being shown up in any sense, but it seemed that with Reiko's skill set, it was hard to get things by him. He was trained by a highly skilled assassin, and thus, was getting some useful abilities out of it.

In the middle of the group, a small tornado of sand developed. As everyone shielded their eyes, they found it replaced by a short boy with red hair and a tattoo on his forehead. His overall aura was that of a demonic presence. He was one scary person, but things like that didn't affect Reiko.

"What do you think you're doing, talking to my sister?" The red haired boy asked dangerously.

"G-gaara!" Temari squeaked, clearly afraid of this boy. Reiko however, was looking him straight in the eyes without fear. "We were just talking. It's nothing to worry about. Himura san was just introducing himself and his team."

"Hello there Gaara san." Reiko said amiably, holding out his hand. This astonished everyone even more than his strange behavior before. "I am Himura Reiko of the leaf. I meant no harm in speaking with your sister."

"I am Gaara of the sand, at your service." Gaara stated calmly. His stare was that of a basilisk, freezing all in its path, except for Reiko.

"If I may ask, what are three people from the sand doing here in Konoha?" Sakura asked the trio of sand shinobi.

"I guess you all haven't been informed." Kankuro said, showing his papers allowing him to walk freely in Konoha. "We're here for the chuunin selection exams."

"Ahh, the chuunin exams." Reiko said, stroking his chin slightly "I do hope master Kakashi plans to enter us. I haven't had a good fight since the wave country."

"We must depart now. I do hope we get a chance to fight during the tournament." Gaara said as he led his siblings off to wherever it was they were going.

"We need to go and meet Kakashi sensei in about ten minutes." Reiko said, scratching the back of his head.

"Don't you mean we have to meet him in a few hours?" Naruto asked questioningly.

"Why yes, a few hours might be better." Reiko said, recollecting upon that idea "I guess we have some spare time…"

About three hours later, Kakashi showed up at their meeting place with some lame-ass excuse as to why he was late. As usual, Naruto and Sakura yelled at him for being late and lying. Maggots were crawling around in his skull…Of course that end part was just how Reiko saw it.

"You all might want to know that I recommended you all for the upcoming chuunin exams." Kakashi said offhandedly. Stupid jounin and his lax attitude towards everything…

"HELL YEAH BITCH!" Reiko shouted a little too loudly for those around him to be completely comfortable "I knew all my training, hard work, and sexiness finally paid off!"

"Um…you're a little creepy…" Kakashi said, causing Reiko to bow his head in shame for a short time. "At any rate, fill out these applications."

"Oh my god sensei, I love you!" Naruto said, tackling Kakashi. Kakashi didn't enjoy that very much and had to pry him off with a broomstick.

"The exam is completely voluntary. Don't take it unless you want to." Kakashi said to him, recovering his composure. "If you decide to enter, just turn those forms in to room 301 at four o'clock tomorrow at the school. Now go away, all of you. Especially Reiko."

Reiko ran off to go tell Zabuza and Haku the good news. He was so excited that he ran up the Konoha wall and leapt outside into the trees, just for the sheer joy of doing it. About two miles and forty shouts of exuberance later, he finally made it to Zabuza and Haku's camp…residence…thing…

"Guess what guys!" Reiko yelled enthusiastically to them as he quite literally jumped directly into the middle of the camp.

"Um…do we have to?" Zabuza asked warily, trying to decide whether or not to walk away at that moment.

"What's going on Reiko kun?" Haku asked politely with a smile. At least SOMEONE had some manners. "Does it have anything to do with the chuunin exam?"

"Why Haku chan, I do believe you are correct…I'M GONNA KICK SOME FOREIGN ASS!" Reiko yelled, pumping his muscles in victory.

"I don't know if you're ready for something like that kid…" Zabuza said skeptically. It didn't actually mean anything, that's just how it was. "The chuunin exam'll be pretty tough for someone at your strength."

"Are you kidding?" Reiko asked incredulously "I've got kickass senbon, kickass sword skills, kickass sneaking skills, and last but not least, my kickass ability to put your ass in a genjutsu with the mere touch of my hand! I've got it in the bag!"

"Reiko kun, you shouldn't curse so much. I am a lady remember?" Haku said quietly. Yeah, she was using the fact that she was a girl to get what she wanted, just like the rest of them.

"Oh, sorry Haku chan…" Reiko said, suddenly getting much quieter "At any rate, I want to do some extra training before I go in for the exam tomorrow."

"You don't train the day before an exam or mission stupid." Zabuza said while not even looking in Reiko's direction. "And it's not like any extra training would help you at this point. You need to rest."

"Like hell I plan to rest!" Reiko yelled before he caught Haku's eye "Heck…I said heck…"

"What could I possibly teach you in a few hours." Zabuza asked sarcastically "You're not even that good at what I did try to teach you."

"I'm plenty good! Haku chan, you agree with me, right?" Reiko said defensively, and then asking for backup.

Haku merely stifled a laugh. She wasn't laughing because he wasn't an able shinobi, but because she always enjoyed watching the two of them go at it. Zabuza really didn't have any complaints, but he was just being himself. Reiko being as stubborn as Naruto never helped the situation either. They both didn't mean most of what they said though, so neither of them took the other very seriously.

"All the same, extra training can't hurt anything." Reiko said, finally calming down enough to make some sort of sense. "You could also give me some helpful pointers I might need."

"For once, you do make a good point." Zabuza admitted "But don't even bother with new skills or anything of the sort. Any skill you don't take your time to learn isn't even worth learning."

"Now that's what I like to hear!" Reiko exclaimed, having won an argument for once in his life.

The next day, the four members of team seven headed into the school to turn in their forms and take the chuunin exam. After merely a few floors though, they found themselves in a crowd of people, who seemed to be trying to get through a door that was guarded by two dangerous looking guys. Just as they walked up, one of the guys threw a girl to the ground rather violently. For some reason or another, Reiko rushed over to her.

"Hey, are you okay?" He asked, his voice genuinely concerned. "Here, I'll help you up."

"Reiko kun!" the girl said in surprise as she took Reiko's hand to help her up. "I didn't know you were going to be entering the exam!"

"One second Tenten chan…" Reiko said, looking at the two guys standing guard in front of the door. "First off, you shouldn't hit a girl, let alone one of my friends. Second off, if that genjutsu's yours, you did a pretty crappy job. Now, if the two of you don't vacate my rather blurry field of vision, I will impale the both of you before you can say 'poopty peupty pants-ss'"

The two guys looked at each other for a second, trying to decide whether Reiko was for real or not. They took a look at the sword on his back and decided they didn't want to risk it, and they left in quite a hurry.

"Reiko kun, you didn't have to do that for me you know…" Tenten said, looking rather embarrassed as she stood in front of him. "You know that they didn't even hurt me very badly."

"Yeah, but I gotta build up a reputation you know." Reiko said cheerfully as the rest of team seven happened to walk up. "Hey Tenten chan, this is my team. There's Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, and Uchiha Sasuke. Guys, this is Tenten chan. Her family owns the weapons shop where I work part time."

"It's very nice to meet all of you." Tenten said with a smile "Hey, I have to go now. Good luck during the chuunin exam."

"I didn't know you had another job…" Naruto said suspiciously "How do you find time for it all?"

"Well, I don't sleep much and I'm sure you can figure out why." Reiko said with a shrug "The best I could do was make some money off of my ample free time. No use letting it all go to waste."

They all walked into the hallway leading to the room they were sure they needed to be. What was odd though, was that Kakashi was standing there in front of them. Kakashi wasn't supposed to be here. It was an odd thing indeed. Even more odd was that he was on time.

"I'm glad you all made it." Kakashi said amiably "This way you all qualify to take the exam."

"But Kakashi sensei…" Sakura said, slightly confused "I thought you said it was up to each of us whether to apply or not. Were you lying?"

"I said what I said to keep your partners from pressuring you to come along." Kakashi explained, "Even if you had no interest in applying, one word from Sasuke and you'd have come along and gone through the motions, though your heart wasn't in it."

"What would have happened if Sasuke, Naruto, and Reiko had shown up without me?" Sakura asked curiously.

"They'd have been eliminated immediately." Kakashi said with a smile "But you're all here, so it doesn't matter. I'm very proud of you, now go in there and give it all you've got."

With that, the four of them walked into the examination room, prepared for anything that could have been thrown at them. Maybe it was Kakashi's encouraging words, maybe it was Naruto's unbridled exuberance, or maybe it was Reiko's ignorance to things like how hard this was going to be…or where he was…


	8. Chapter 8

Well here it is.

The first part of the chuunin exams. It's kind of a weak chapter altogether now that I look at it. I'm not that pleased with the effect, but the story must go on so I give it to you freely, on the condition that you all review.

I don't own Naruto by any definition of any words you might possibly try to use against me

* * *

They walked into an enormous room filled with shinobi from all lands, each separated into groups and talking amongst themselves. They were slightly awed at how many shinobi were there, but didn't let that stop them for long. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a figure attached itself to Sasuke's back.

"Sasuke!" The blur yelled, "Where have you been cutie? I could hardly wait! It's so exciting, seeing you again after all this time."

"Ino, you pig!" Sakura yelled to the figure, which was apparently a girl "Get you hooves off of Sasuke kun!"1

"Hello to you too Sakura." Ino replied smugly from atop Sasuke's back "Are you still hoping big mutant foreheads will come into style?"

Before the two girls could get into it any further, Reiko walked over and put a hand on her shoulder, causing her to jump slightly and fall off of Sasuke. As she sat on the floor she stared at Reiko, a strangely confused look on her face.

"Hello, my name is Himura Reiko. Pleased to meet you." Reiko said, offering Ino a hand up.

Ino continued to stare at him confusedly, then at Sasuke, then back at Reiko. Her eyes were the size of dinner plates. Finally, she rested her eyes on Reiko. If he didn't know any better, and he wasn't sure he did, Reiko would have almost assumed that she had just made up her mind about something.

"Hi Reiko kun, I'm Yamanaka Ino." Ino said sweetly, getting up very suddenly and standing as close to him as possible. "It's very nice to meet you."

"Hello there!" Said a familiar voice belonging to none other than Temari "I was just coming to-"

She stopped short as she saw a very smitten Ino glued to a very worried Reiko. It looked almost as if she was squeezing the life out of him, although he didn't do anything to try and stop it. His arms were in the air, making motions for people to come and help get this strange girl off of him.

"Excuse me, but just what the hell do you think you're doing?" Temari asked Ino rather angrily, making everybody's eyebrows raise a little bit. "I come over here to see Reiko kun and I find you hanging all over him! Explain yourself bitch!"

"Go away you disease carrying whore!" Ino yelled at Temari "He's mine, and I'm not letting go of him."

"Oh, you wanna play that way?" Temari said, reaching for her fan when Reiko's arm wrapped around her shoulder, causing him to nearly stop breathing.

"Ino chan, this is my girlfriend, Temari chan. Have you two met each other before?" Reiko asked pleasantly, seemingly ignoring the fact that Ino was still attached to his chest like the worlds blondest growth.

Ino was quite literally crushed…for about ten seconds. She stood up and walked off with her nose in the air. For some reason, Reiko had a feeling she would be back. He removed his arm from Temari and made sure the coast was clear. It was.

"Wow, thanks Temari chan, you really saved my life back there." Reiko said, turning back to her with a smile. "I have to repay you somehow. How about I take you out to eat sometime?"  
"I um…I would like that um…Reiko kun…" Temari stammered, her face beet red as she calmly hurried off.

"Hey, why don't all of you kids try and keep it quiet!" A boy with white hair and glasses said from across the room. "This isn't some school field trip. You brats need to open your eyes."

"Who the hell are you punk?" Naruto asked defensively, not noticing the angry glares from everybody in the room.

"The name's Kabuto." Kabuto said with a smirk "Those behind you are Amagakure, and they've got very short fuses. Everybody's on edge, and I just wanted to give you some pointers before somebody snaps and beats the crap out of you."

"Is this your second time to apply for this exam Kabuto san?" Sakura asked curiously.

"Not second, seventh." Kabuto said "Twice a year for…going on four years now I think."

"Wow, you must have lots of experience at this then." Sakura said with slight awe "Could you tell us what kinds of things to expect."

"Well…the least I could do is give you children some intelligence on these shinobi skill cards." Kabuto said, pulling out a deck of cards. "These cards hold information and can be accessed by my own personal chakra. It took me nearly four years to get these two hundred cards."

"Do you have individual dossier cards for applicants?" Sasuke asked, slightly intrigued by the thought of extra information.

"I don't think so Sasuke san." Reiko said suddenly, interjecting into the conversation. "I think it's best we save some surprises for later. It makes the whole thing more interesting."

"If you say so…" Kabuto said, putting the cards away "You know, every ninja village has sent their best junior shinobi here to this exam. Everybody here is the best of the best when it comes to genin of their country. Expect that none of you have a chance."

Suddenly out of nowhere, a flash of movement was seen heading straight towards Kabuto. It looked like the group of sound nin were going after him. One of them who looked like a mummy made a swing at him with his fist, which Kabuto dodged by a small margin. After the attack however, his glasses shattered to pieces, falling to the ground like shimmering rain. Soon after he began vomiting all over the place as the three sound nin stood smugly next to each other.

"Take this and add it to your cards you little-" The mummy started to say before he was cut off by Reiko's swords sliding right under all three of their throats.

"Well, well, well…what have we here?" Reiko chuckled from behind them, holding the swords firm with both hands "It seems you three are a little too anxious to hurt people. I don't think I agree with that."

Before anything else could happen, there was a huge explosion in the front of the classroom, stopping everyone's previous activities. After the blast cleared, there was a group of people standing in front of them. Standing in front, the leader most likely, was a man in a trench coat. He gave off a strange aura that gave everybody shivers, and the scars across his face only augmented the effect.

"All right everyone. My name is Morino Ibiki, and I'll be your examiner today." Ibiki said coldly, his voicesettling over the roomlike a sheet of ice"Everybody turn in your papers and get a number. You will sit in the seat number you get on your card."

Before Ibiki had a chance to say another word, everybody filed into a seat as dictated on their cards. Ibiki was probably almost as creepy as Reiko, just in a different, less pleasant way.

"Once you get your test, keep them face down until I give the signal." Ibiki commanded before picking up a piece of chalk to write on the board. "Here are the rules to the test. Listen up because I'm not taking questions and I'm only saying this once. The first rule is that each one of you starts with ten points. The test has ten questions, and for each one you get wrong, we subtract a point from you."

Ibuki waited a second for this to sink in. He idly noticed thata boy with golden yellow hair andwhisker marks on his facelooked like he was about to crap his pants.

"The second rule is that this is still a team event." Ibuki continued "whether you pass or fail this test depends on how many points your team has combined. The object of the test is to have as few points deducted from your total as possible"

"Wait a minute!" Sakura burst out "The whole starting points thing was hard enough to follow, but what is this team total thing?"

"Didn't you hear me when I said no questions?" Ibuki shot back at her "Sit down and shut up and you might learn something."

Sakura sat down quietly, mentally hitting herself for starting off on the wrong foot already.

"Rule number three." Ibuki continued again "If, during the course of the exam, a candidate does anything out of the ordinary, or anything that leads any of the proctors to believe that they are cheating, we subtract two points from each of the cheater's team's points. If you run out of your allowance of points during the exam, you will promptly be asked to leave."

"I'll be looking over your shoulders when you least expect it." Said one of the proctors haughtily from the side of the room.

"If the proctors catch you cheating, you bring yourself and your friends down." Ibiki said sinisterly "If you want to be chuunin, you had better start acting like it. And one more thing… If one member loses their entire ten points, then the loser's team, regardless of how many points they have, will be disqualified immediately. You have one hour. Get started."

At that, everybody began to write on their tests hurriedly. From his position, Reiko could see Naruto ripping his hair out frantically, Sasuke going at it calmly, and Sakura already tackling the third question. He looked down at his test for a second and decided he just didn't want to do the work. It was at that point where he thought up a plan most devious, and began setting it into motion.

Later on, everybody was still plugging away at the test. Several teams had already been eliminated for cheating. Naruto was still completely clueless. Sakura finished the test confidently. Sasuke had cheated using his sharingan. Reiko…Reiko was asleep on top of his paper with his hands under the desk.

"All right everybody. It's time for the tenth question." Ibuki said, his voice cutting through the silence deftly. "But before I give it to you, I have to put down one more rule. You must first choose whether or not to accept the question."

"What happens if someone doesn't accept the question?" Temari asked worriedly, standing up slightly.

"If you don't even try to answer the question, you lose all your points and you fail immediately, along with your teammates." Ibiki said with a cold chuckle, obviously enjoying this more than most people would believe possible.

"Then why would anyone choose to reject it?" A few students yelled, among other things.

"Because of the other rule…" Ibuki said, clearly enjoying this "If you accept the question and fail to get the correct answer, you will never be permitted to enter the chuunin exams again. Not ever."

"You can't be serious!" A boy with a dog yelled from across the room "There are ninja here who have sat in for the chuunin exams more than once already!"

"Just your rotten luck. I wasn't making the rules in past years, but I am now." Ibuki said with a cold smirk. "Now, anyone who wishes to reject the question…speak now, or forever hold your peace."

One by one, several people cracked under the pressure. Naruto almost lost count of the number of teams that were escorted out of the exam with their heads hung. Shakily, Naruto slowly began to raise his hand.

"Ibuki san…" Said a voice, catching everyone's attention, including Naruto's. At that point, Reiko sat up in his chair, keeping his hands under the desk. "If you think we're stupid…you might just be right. But if you think we're cowards…you're in for a rude awakening."

Slowly Reiko brought his hands up from under the desk, revealing them to be in the form of a seal. In an instant, the entire room went fuzzy for a second. When everything returned to normal, all of the surrounding walls were plastered over with pornographic pictures and random insults. Everybody stared in shock at what was around them. A majority of their papers had even been tampered with. The only one who didn't seem to be affected by it was Ibuki himself.

"You're Himura's kid aren't you?" Ibuki asked with a smirk as he quietly surveyed the completely vandalized room around him.

"Not only am I the heir to the Himura clan, but I am the first to wield it's bloodline since this village was established." Reiko said with a smirk "Neither I, nor my teammates will run from you or your question, so put that in your pipe and smoke it until you get all queasy and get diarrhea scar face!"

Staring wildly, Naruto looked down at Reiko's paper to see that he had every single answer. It struck him as odd that someone who had cheated at the entire test would be so willing to put the entire teams future on the line.

"I'll ask you one last time…this decision affects the rest of your life." Ibuki said calmly, staring Reiko right in the eyes. "Will you accept or decline the question."

"I told you once already. Now don't make me have to put you in a world where you wished that the only things that marred your appearance where those scars." Reiko said with a smirk. It was an empty threat and everybody knew it, but still, it served the purpose of establishing a sense of boldness in the rest of the examees.

"Well, if that's the case…" Ibuki said, as if thinking about something "Everybody here, just passed the first exam."

"What do you mean passed?" Sakura demanded, "When did that happen? What about the tenth question?"

"There is no tenth question beyond the whole 'accept or reject' thing." Ibuki said, his mood suddenly becoming more cheerful "Uh, Himura san, are you okay?"

"Well…" Reiko said, who had been standing perfectly still while staring straight forward without so much as blinking "I might have just had a heart attack, but I can't be sure. Maybe a couple of strokes too."

"Why the hell did we have to suffer through the other nine questions then?" Temari shouted in an irate manner. "That was a total waste of our time!"

"There was no waste." Ibuki said rather gleefully "Those questions had a purpose, which they already served. The goal was to test your sneaking skills."

Everybody sat back and thought about this. All the cheating they had just done had been encouraged. It almost took the fun out of cheating. Reiko took this time to sit down, saddened at the fact that he wasn't nearly as devious as he thought he was.

"Remember the rules at the beginning? The part about passing or failing as a three man cell?" Ibuki asked, explaining all "With that, I pressured you into believing that anything you did would affect your teammates. However, the questions were much tougher than anything any of you should have been able to handle. So, the rest of you felt that you would just have to cheat in order to stay afloat."

"You mean to tell me that this whole thing was rigged?" Reiko asked,looking down at his paper which he couldn't show off now"I'm normally all for rigging things, but this just wasn't very nice."

"There are times when being caught in an act of espionage can cost you more than your life." Ibuki said, taking off his headband to reveal screw holes and burn marks all over his head. "You can pay for it in ways that can be taken from you little bit by little bit."

"Okay…" Temari said, looking a little like she was going to vomit "What was the deal with that tenth question?"

"Ah, the tenth question…" Ibuki said, putting his headband back on "It was a choice between two options that were both difficult and dangerous. It was a nasty, unfair set of questions."

"I get you here screw head." Reiko said, interrupting him "You were all like testing us to see if we had to courage to face the unknown. Sometimes a chuunin has to take the dangerous jobs without any clear information. I guess that means we all have what it takes."

It was then that a blur crashed through the wall of the room and skidded to a halt at the podium, pinning up a large banner saying something about the second exam. Immerging from the spinning mass was a woman with wild hair and a long coat. She was a tiny bit frightening to all except Reiko, who wasn't really afraid of things like normal people were.

"None of you have any reason to celebrate!" The woman barked, causing everybody to jump a bit more"I am Mitarashi Anko, the second chief examiner of the chuunin exam. Time's a wastin' people let's go! Follow me!"

Everybody slowly filed out of the room, wondering if they would die at that hands of Mitarashi Anko, except Reiko, who was just happy he didn't get busted for trashing the entire room. Very soon, they would start to learn exactly what they were in for in the forest of death.


	9. Chapter 9

Well, here we go again

Yep, I'm back again. To be quite honest, I'm worried about this story. I really don't like most of it until after the time skip, where most of my really good ideas come into play. And judging by the reviews, I guess you guys feel about the same way. Can't say that I blame you really.

I do have good news though. I have decided to put up one more story I have written. It started out as an expiriment, and then kind of snowballed. It's called Unnatural Origins for any who might want to check it out. Know that I strained every writing fiber in my body to produce it, so I consider it to be at least a half-decent story.

If I did own Naruto, Chuck Norris would be the Hokage. No freakin doubt in my mind.

* * *

"This area is called training ground forty-four." Anko said evilly "Otherwise known as the forest of death."

"It looks pretty creepy…" Sakura said quietly while staring fearfully into the forest in front of her.

"You're about to find out first hand why they call it the forest of death." Anko said, that evil grin never leaving her face.

"Yeah right!" Naruto yelled defiantly "Like all this forest of death stuff is supposed to scare us! You're tryin to psyche us out and I'm not fallin for it!"

In an instant, before anybody knew what had happened, Anko had cut Naruto's cheek with a kunai and was licking the blood out of the laceration. Everybody stepped back except for Reiko, who simply watched her while drinking more of his sake as if oblivious to the sight before him.

"Reiko kun, doesn't that creep you out even a little bit?" Sakura asked him as her attention was divided between the two figures.

"Not really." Reiko responded calmly as he took another drink of his sake "These things happen all the time. I've actually had my own blood drained four times this week alone."

"Um…Reiko kun, that's not another one of your hallucinations. She's really drinking his blood." Sakura said to him warily.

"So you mean she's-oh, and that means oh…." Reiko said, taking another drink of his sake and staring down at the ground in thought"That's a good way to contract diseases you know."

Reiko walked away when he saw a guy with an extremely long tongue. Apparently he wasn't the craziest bastard in the exam. In fact, he decided to try and take a nap, or at least hit a few pressure points and make himself sleep. He woke hours later in the woods with his team, who gave him a quick rundown of the rules of the exam. Get another scroll and be at the center of the forest in five days. Not really a problem.

Within minutes, they had devised a sort of strategy. Reiko would stay separate from the team since he was the best at going around undetected, and would watch them from afar for any sort of danger. There would have to be a system of checks to make sure they had the right person however.

"All right, all we need now is a secret password to make sure that no one can disguise themselves as us and attack while we're sleeping." Sasuke said to the group.

"Hey guys, hold that thought one second. I gotta take a leak." Naruto said as he turned around to use the bathroom.

"Not in front of me you idiot! I'm a lady!" Sakura yelled angrily as she smacked Naruto over the head. "Use the bushes!"

"You know, you'll have to grow up some time, and that was a perfect time to study male anatomy." Reiko said to Sakura from his perch on a tree branch.

"Why you!" Sakura yelled, too flustered to get the entire sentence out. She began a mad dash after Reiko, who merely laughed and stayed just out of her reach. Before they knew it however, Sasuke had suddenly decked Naruto for no apparent reason.

"What the hell have you done with Naruto?" Sasuke yelled to the Naruto who was standing against the tree.

"I'm bleeding right here in front of you." Naruto said, wiping the blood from his mouth "Have you gone crazy or something?"

"You forgot Naruto's scar on his cheek he got from Anko sama. You're even worse at Henge than the real Naruto!" Sasuke said coldly.

"Since you've forced me to be direct, you should come clean too." Said the rain nin, dropping his illusion and turning back to his original self "Which one of you has the scroll?"

Before anything more could happen, several large senbon nailed the rain nin's arms to the tree in a rather painful manner. As the attacking shinobi screamed in agony, Reiko dropped from a tree and took his sword off of his back.

"So what do we have here?" Reiko asked, tapping his sword against the tree he nailed the rather scared shinobi to. "It seems you thought you could handle us alone. Guys, should I just kill him?"

"Don't kill him. Put a genjutsu on him and leave him for his team to find him." Sasuke said as he walked away coolly.

"My favorite part of my job." Reiko said maniacally as he touched a hand to the rain nin's head. Within a few seconds, the already frightened shinobi was screaming for his life and begging for help from unseen entities.

>>>>>

"Okay, if we get separated again, we can't trust each other blindly." Sasuke said some hours after the rain nin incident "The safest thing for us to do is have a secret password. That way, we'll know no matter who they look like or how they sound, if one of us gets that wrong, they're an enemy."

"Sounds like a plan, crazy man!" Reiko said. He didn't quite understand why they were looking at him oddly for a while. "What are you looking at?"

"Anyway…I'm only going to sat it once." Sasuke said, moving on to more pressing matters. "It's a poem called Niniki. When I ask for it you respond as follows. 'We thrive in chaos of the enemy tide. Shinobi don't need dens to hide. Our only concern is to watch and wait, until the enemy lowers the gate."

"And you expect me to remember that how?" Naruto practically screamed at Sasuke.

"I'm sorry, could you repeat that? I was under the impression you were going to give us a regular password. Something like swordfish." Reiko said, quietly angry and determined not to express it as much as Naruto.

"I'm taking the scroll." Sasuke said as he stood up. Almost immediately however, they were on high alert.

With a sudden explosion, the three kusa nin were standing there, fully prepared to wreak havoc upon team seven. What was apparently the leader stepped forward alone and told the others to go do something else. In a split second, team seven was well hidden and quite separated.

Reiko watched from the canopy of the trees. He waited for just the right opportunity to strike. Below him Naruto was getting eaten by a snake. Like that was a big deal. Naruto could get himself out of a snake without any real problem. Even if he couldn't, that snake was big, and Reiko was small, not a good chance of him winning that one. Moving on, Sasuke and Sakura were being hit with genjutsu, now that he could remedy. It was Zabuza's first rule: dont take on more than you can handle, or even try and push the limit.

The grass nin stood there gloatingly as he watched the two genin in front of him tremble. He heard a sound behind him and focused his attention on that for a mere split second. In that time, he suddenly had to fly back to avoid being cut in half with a large sword. As he looked back to his quarry, they were on the ground panting in exaustion. Standing over them was a red haired boy without a shirt. It had apparently been him who had released the two from the genjutsu.

"Sakura, Sasuke, get out of here. You can't do a thing against this guys illusions." Reiko said firmly, holding his sword easily in one hand.

"I assure you, you will be hard pressed to stop me!" The grass nin said, activating the illusion again. This time he concentrated it directly on Reiko.

"Oh come now…" Reiko said with a laugh. He stood there calmly, the illusion having absolutely no effect "You'll have to do much better than that if you want to take me down."

Reiko ran at the man with his sword raised. It wasn't a very long fight. Before he could even strike, Reiko was kicked into a tree, nearly toppling the thing over. Reiko didn't seem to care however and quickly got up, holding his hand in a single seal.

"_KIRIGAKURE NO JUTSU!_" he yelled, in his attempt to bring a fog in. All he got was a small wisp of smoke though. "Oh crap…"

Reiko was on his toes again, dodging low to avoid a punch and then coming in with an upward slash of his sword. The grass nin merely disappeared before he could be cut in half. Reiko scanned the area again and crept off in search of his quarry.

>>>>>

Sasuke and Sakura had retreated to a tree for cover. They really had no clue how Reiko was immune to that illusion. It truly did baffle them to no end. But at the moment, they had much more important things to worry about, like how to stay alive.

"Sasuke kun, do you think Reiko kun is okay?" Sakura asked worriedly, on the verge of tears "That snake man could have killed us any time he wanted!"

"I think Reiko will be alright." Sasuke said, checking his surroundings "He can fight off any illusion without a problem, and can hide better than any of us. If anything, he's better equipped to take him down than we are."

"Sasuke! Snake!" Sakura yelled suddenly as a gigantic snake descended upon them.

Sasuke acted on instinct alone and jumped out of the way, only to have the snake follow him with it's mouth open wide. Sasuke took the opening and let loose a barrage of kunai and shuriken straight into the snake's gaping jaws, pinning it to a tree by the skin on it's head.

"For shame, letting your guard down." Said the voice of the grass nin as he rose up out of the body of the dad snake "Stay on your toes like a good prey should. It makes the chase so much more interesting…"

From his perch in the forest canopy above, Reiko surveyed the situation. This man wasn't a genin. Furthermore, he was using things that were only usually seen in his nightmares. Now Naruto was mixed up into this. That could only make things worse. He took the mask of his great-great-grandfather and looked at it for a long time. He didn't want to use it. He was afraid of that mask, but something deep inside him told him that he had to.

Naruto was just about to be crushed to death by the snake. Sasuke stood rooted to his spot, afraid. Sakura was crying, because that was all she could really do at the moment. Then without warning, the snake's face was bleeding. As soon as everybody realized what had happened, an eerie chill crept up each of their spines.

"A Himura…" The kusa nin hissed as he landed gracefully on the ground. In an instant, Reiko literally appeared in front of him, his body aflame with blue fire. "and a bloodline user as well…I haven't seen that bloodline in action since I was a boy."

Reiko didn't say a word. There was a flash of blue light and the grass nin was suddenly defending himself amusedly. Each one of Reiko's lightning-fast blows was forcing him into more and more compromising situations.

Reiko swung his sword in a wide arc, sweeping the entire area in front of him. The grass nin laughed as he leaned back under the attack. He stopped laughing as several large senbon flew at him, causing him to dodge to the side almost immediately. Reiko was using all his speed and strength to merely put the grass nin on the run.

In a flurry of graceful movement, the grass nin caught Reiko by the face. Immediately, Reiko began screaming in pain and tearing at his attacker's arm. Nothing could be done however, as the mask was quite suddenly ripped off, letting Reiko fall to the ground, completely unconscious, the blood that flowed from his eyes staining the ground.

>>>>>

It was several hours later when Reiko finally awoke. He had been leaned against a tree with all his personal affects in tow. As he slowly got up, he went to wipe the blood off of his face, but found that it had already been done for him. He then reached to his back pocket for his mask, and found it to be there. Looking around, he used his sword as a walking stick and stood himself up. It wasn't a pleasant experience. His entire body ached in pain with each uneasy step.

"Ugh…what the hell happened?" Reiko asked, holding his free hand to his throbbing head as he slowly walked toward where he felt Sakura's presence.

"Reiko kun!" Sakura yelled in surprise "I didn't think you'd wake up. After you passed out, he got Saskue and Naruto. I've been taking care of them the best I can."

"Have you set up any traps around the perimeter?" Reiko asked, trying to get a grasp of the situation despite his current condition.

"Yes, I set one." Sakura said, tending to Sasuke by dabbing his forehead with a damp cloth "I don't know what to do. You aren't in good enough condition to carry them, and I couldn't move them if I was well rested, which I'm not."

"We have to keep moving, otherwise, we'll be under attack." Reiko said, staring off into the distance as he spoke "We're sitting ducks here. Before you know it, somebody will come along and pick us off."

Right then, a squirrel began to walk up to them. Reiko immediately saw it as a threat and threw a senbon to scare it away. After making sure the creature was gone, Reiko scanned the area for the enemies he knew were there.

"Sakura, we need to get out of here now." Reiko said worriedly, still scanning the surrounding area "We're in big trouble."

"Well, It looks like you two have been working hard to guard Naruto." Said an evil voice from behind "As of now though, you're off duty. Just wake Sasuke up, we wanna take him off."

"What are you all talking about? We know Orochimaru has been pulling off the strings, so what do you want?" Sakura asked angrily. Reiko cast a glance at her in confusion. He had never heard that name in his life.

"I suggest that all of you leave before I put each of you in a hell where you will never escape from." Reiko said threateningly, deciding that running would put his teammates in too much risk at the moment, despite his lack of strength.

"Well now, I can't walk away after hearing that." The taller male said "I'll destroy you both and Sasuke as well."

"Zaku, wait!" The mummy said to the other male "Someone's been setting booby traps. But what's the point of laying them if you leave evidence to your prey?"

"I guess we'll just have to take the girl out first for leaving such ineffective traps." The one called Zaku said.

As the three sound nin jumped through the air to avoid traps they would set off anyway, Reiko slunk back into the shadows where he could await the perfect opportunity to strike. It wasn't long before he thought he might have to, when a strange creature with large eyebrows and a bowl cut saved the day.

When the thick browed creature began to fail, Reiko got ready to spring into action. Just as a girl who seemed to be called Kin had a handhold on Sakura's hair and was preparing to make the first strike.

"Zaku, why don't you finish off one of the others right in front of this little pig." Kin said as she stood there watching.

Just as Sakura started to formulate a plan, she suddenly lurched forward of what seemed to be her own free will. Instantaneously, the screaming of Kin could be heard behind her. As she reached back she felt the hand still clutching at her hair, but the difference was that now it wasn't attached to a body. As she looked behind her, she saw the Kin clutching at her severed arm in agony.

"Who did that?" Zaku yelled, looking around for the attacker. "Who's out there! Show yourself!"

"Oh but of course…" Reiko's voice said as a heavy fog set in. Kin started to run, but her legs ended up going ahead of her torso, which fell to the ground in a bloody heap shortly before her legs did.

Zaku began throwing his sound blasts into the mist. Each blast disrupted the air currents around him, and thus getting rid of the mist. When all of that murderous fog had lifted however, there was no sign that anything had once been there.

"Don't scream!" Reiko yelled suddenly from behind them, his sword held high "You'll only die a coward!"

As he swung his blade, the sound nin dodged to each side, narrowly avoiding the edge of a hungry sword. Zaku was still on his toes however as Reiko chased after him wildly. It literally took hours to show any sign of either side starting to weaken.

>>>>>

Miles away, Reiko was carrying Sasuke, Naruto, and Lee on his back by some miracle of endurance. Sakura was tailing behind him, not really able to help, but wishing she could. Reiko had used as much chakra as he dared to make a genjutsu, kill the girl, and get the hell out of there. Now he was carrying the weight of three people alone on his back. Sakura couldn't help but marvel at his ability to block out pain and fatigue.

"Here." Reiko saidflatly as he dropped the boys off by the river and quite literally fell over with half of his body in the water. He was too tired to try andmove"I can't move any further. The guy with the bowl cut's team will be looking after him soon."

"But what will we do? We don't have a second scroll to turn in." Sakura said, tending to each boy's wounds "There's no way we can pass the exam."

"Oh contraire…' Reiko said with a strained chuckle as he softly patted one of his many pockets"The girl had two scrolls on her, a complete set. I nicked them off her body."

"Reiko…" Sakura said, hanging her head "Did you really have to kill her? Couldn't you have just knocked her out?"

"Sakura chan…" Reiko said with a chuckle as he used his strength to raise himself up and grin wickedly "We can't avoid killing forever. Sooner or later, you'll kill somebody too. I have been trained as an assassin by the best assassin there is. Even if I didn't have to kill her...I wanted to."

Sakura's eyes widened at Reiko's proclamation. He said it without feeling or remorse. The only thing that could give away any emotion on his face was the sadistic grin plastered upon it. She didn't know whether to be greatful or afraid, but was currently leaning towards the latter.

"Come out Tenten chan…" Reiko said quite suddenly with his back turned, his features returning tonormal almost immediately"I assume you and your teammate are here for bowl cut. Come and get him, he really helped us out."

"We thank you for taking care of him as you did." Said a boys voice, coming from a white eyed boy with long black hair. "I'll tell Tenten san that you took good care of him."

"Hyuuga…" Reiko said to himself quietly as he turned around "I didn't really expect you to come for him. At any rate, he should be fine, if not a little dizzy for a while."

The Hyuuga picked up the fuzzy creature and left in a flurry of motion. There wasn't even an emotional response to it. Reiko and Sakura were simply too tired. Without another thought, they went to sleep. At least Sakura went to sleep. Reiko pushed a couple of his pressure points and knocked himself out again.


	10. Chapter 10

Well guys, I's back and still tranglin on an on. Now I've gotten some comments on how it's possible that Reiko is far too awsome to be a genin. This is true and I agree with you full-heartedly. He is a bit of a mary-sue. But this story is about him. I made him this way on purpose. I don't want to reveal too much, but I will say that the bigger they are the harder they fall.

READ ON, O' BROTHERS AND SISTERS OF MINE!

I dont own Naruto. Only Reiko. At this point I might consider a trade.

* * *

Reiko woke quite suddenly, as he always did when coming out of his self-induced sleepand went about fixing food for himself and Sakura. As he moved over Naruto however, he saw the boy's eyes slowly flutter open. His first reaction was to wake Sakura.

"Sakura, Naruto's awake!" Reiko said to her quite suddenly, shaking her shoulder gently as he did so.

"Ugh…what happened?" Naruto asked groggily as he got up. He sniffed the air a bit and suddenly bolted upright "Is that ramen I smell?"

"As a matter of fact, no." Reiko said, causing Naruto's head to sink instantly "But it is squirrel, and that's pretty good stuff too."

"What are you idiot's doing?" Sasuke suddenly asked with his eyes closed "Man…my neck hurts a lot…"

"Big bad Uchiha san, it seems you decided to join us in the land of the living!" Reiko said joyfully "I guess I'll have to get some more food."

Sakura was tearing up in happiness, and nobody showed any signs of trying to stop her. Reiko quietly slunk off to get some more food, leaving the three of them to talk amongst themselves and allow Sakura to relate the story of how they got away to both of them.

"And after that, Reiko kun carried all three of you here by himself." Sakura said to both Naruto and Sasuke as Reiko walked back up to the camp. "He killed one of the sound nin, got a complete set of scrolls, and put a genjutsu on the two remaining nins with his last remaining strength."

"Wow Reiko san, I didn't know you were that strong." Naruto said in wonderment to Reiko, who sat down next to him.

"I do what I have to when I have to." Reiko said with a smile as he began cooking the meat he had somehow procured "I'm just learned at taking opportunities."

"Thanks for saving us Reiko san." Sasuke said quietly as he took a drink of water, as was his style. For the sake of Sasuke's pride, Reiko pretended not to have heard him.

"Now, for our next order of business." Reiko said, through bites of squirrel and rabbit "We need to get to the tower in the center of the forest. Sakura chan, how many days do we have left?"

"We have about two days." Sakura said informatively "If we make good time, we should be able to make it."

"All right, I say we wait until about noon today and make a mad dash for it." Reiko said, taking another bite of squirrel.

"What about enemy shinobi and traps?" Sakura asked slightly worriedly "There are sure to be teams gathered around the tower waiting for anybody coming, and we're in no condition to fight."

"I don't know about either of you, but I'm just fine!" Naruto boasted loudly "Even if Reiko san did get us all the way here, there's no way any of you could match my stamina!"

"Idiot. It takes more than a single fit person to defeat a group of enemies." Sasuke said coolly "We'll have to sneak in as best we can without alerting anybody to our presence."

"When the word 'sneak' comes up, why do I automatically assume that I'm going to have a big part of this plan?" Reiko whined. There was no way he could possibly take anybody down with his chakra levels so low.

"Well…yeah…" Sasuke said as if it were perfectly obvious and Reiko was a moron for even thinking differently.

"I'm in no condition to fight or get into any sort of small skirmish." Reiko said to him extra slowly to make sure he could comprehend the sentence. "I used my mask to fend off a snake guy, thwarted a team of sound nin, and carried three people on my back for several miles. I'm spent."

"You seem fine to me Reiko san." Naruto said, a questioning look dominating his childlike features.

"…Well I'm not." Reiko retorted, letting himself sink down to a very immature level "I'm just pretending to be all right."

"Well you sure are talking a lot to not be okay…" Naruto continued suspiciously. If nothing else, you had to give him credit for not giving up.

"I'm only doing that because you keep asking questions and I can't sleep." Reiko shot back.

"You really do seem perfectly fine Reiko kun…" Sakura said quietly "Are you sure you're not okay?"

"Look…" Reiko said, finally getting fed up with all the questions "I have next to no chakra left, even after eating and having a good night's rest. I refuse to act as all of your crutch when I wouldn't even attempt to fight in a situation where I DIDN'T have other people's lives depending on me. I'll get to that tower, but I can't do a whole lot else."

"Well…that takes away a lot of our options." Sasuke said shortly, returning back to planning mode "We'll just have to make a dash for it and hope we make it, keeping a sharp eye out all the while."

"Now there's a good plan!" Naruto yelled optimistically. "I'm glad we're gonna stop sneaking around and go in directly!"

"We'll leave in a few hours." Reiko said, standing up "Hey Naruto, why don't you help me get some supplies before we leave."

"Uh…Okay…" Naruto said as he followed Reiko into the woods, though all the while he wondered why they were getting supplies when they were about to finish the exam.

"Okay Naruto, I've been thinking about something, and I need to speak." Reiko said, leaning against a tree as soon as they were out of earshot of Sakura and Sasuke. "Now this may sound funny coming from me, but I think that the Kyuubi was sealed in your navel when you were a baby, and that the demon's power manifests when you experience sever emotional stress."

"Uh…" Naruto said, at a complete loss. Reiko was weird and smart at the same time "That does sound like something you would say…you're a borderline psycho."

"But am I a smart, successful, correct psycho?" Reiko asked with a smile "Or a crummy, evil psycho with bad hygiene?"

"…If I was the retainer of the demon fox…would you be afraid of me?" Naruto asked quietly with his head low.

"Be afraid of you?" Reiko asked confusedly "Hell no I wouldn't be afraid of you! If anything, I would exploit you!"

"What!" Naruto exclaimed, "All the adults hate me and are afraid of me! Why aren't you like any of them?"

"Dude, you've seen what I see. I've got much scarier things in front of me as we speak." Reiko scoffed "Were you scared of me when I put on my mask?"

"Well…yeah…" Naruto answered truthfully "You were more of a demon than I ever was…You turned the world around you into hell…"

"Oh come on, it wasn't as bad as all that." Reiko said, rolling his eyes "At any rate, we'll need you to get us to the tower. You got the demon brudda."

"I'll keep that in mind…." Naruto said, scratching the back of his head "So what are we supposed to get out here."

"Nothing really, but I was going to get some medicinal herbs just in case we need them." Reiko said with a shrug, picking some leaves off what appeared to be the nearest bush.

"I didn't know you knew anything about medicinal plants." Naruto said as he started to help him.

"Yeah, Haku chan taught me all about them." Reiko said with a smile "It's basically all memorization. I prefer hacking things to pieces of course."

>>>>> 

In an hour, they were already underway, flying through the trees at a grueling pace. Neither Sakura or Sasuke had suspected Naruto or Reiko of discussing anything, and were still in the dark about the Kyuubi demon. So far, they were about an hour away from the tower, and had about an hour left in the exam.

"All right Reiko san, even if you can't fight, we need you to keep an eye out for genjutsu traps." Sasuke said to Reiko, who was barely able to keep up with them.

"Okay. I can do that." Reiko said with a nod "So does that mean you want to know about the trap we're in right now?"

"We're in a trap and you didn't tell us!" Sasuke exclaimed, very much agitated that they had been caught and somebody knew about it.

"Well yeah. It's a simple trap that makes us walk around in circles." Reiko explained "Our enemy is probably hiding in the trees somewhere, waiting to strike us down."

No sooner had the words exited his mouth, they were under attack by what looked to be an army of rain nin. Upon closer inspection, it was the same rain nin they had spared back at the beginning of the exam. Everybody groaned a bit at that, especially Reiko, who muttered about how he should have killed him when he had the chance.

"Well, since I don't think you need me here, I'm going to use one of my favorite tactics." Reiko said with grin.

"_ KIRIKIERU NO JUTSU" _Reiko announced as he put his hands into a single seal and his body turned into mist, which faded away shortly after.

"Stupid coward…" Sasuke muttered under his breath as he turned on his sharingan. As soon as he did though, his entire body started feeling like it was tearing itself apart.

"Sasuke kun, what's wrong?" Sakura exclaimed as she went over to his crumpled figure.

"They're all fakes…" Sasuke panted from his position on the ground. "The real enemies are hiding in the trees."

"_KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU"_ Naruto yelled, creating a small army of shadow clones. Before anybody could do anything, the two forces collided, each side receiving and giving blows left and right.

Meanwhile, Reiko was sprinting off in the direction of the tower. Truthfully, he was very glad to not be involved in another fight, even if it did mean putting his teammates in jeapordy for it. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something shining in the light momentarily. Letting curiosity get the better of him, he decided to go and see what it was.

"Hey kid." Zabuza said, reclined on a tree branch with his feet up as Reiko walked up "You think it was okay to leave your team back there?"

"I'm next to useless in my current condition." Reiko said to the assassin "I would have only weighed them down, so I left."

"That was a nice genjutsu imitation of the Kirikieru no jutsu that you did back there…And that pathetic Kirigakure…" Zabuza said haughtily "I would have thought you would be able to at least produce enough mist to cover yourself."

"Go to hell you god damned son of a bitch!" Reiko yelled at him "You know better than I do that most of my training has been swordplay."

"Watch your language." Haku said from behind him, making him jump at least three feet into the air.

"Haku chan…you scared me half to death." Reiko said, trying to slow his heartbeat down "But I assume you two have been watching the entire exam. Who was that snake guy?"

"That was a guy named Orochimaru." Zabuza explained "He's a missing nin as well, but before that, he was one of Konoha's three sannin."

"A sannin!" Reiko explained in disbelief "You mean to tell me that I fought one of the strongest shinobi ever!"

"It would seem that way." Haku said with a weak smile "But you did good all the same. At least he didn't kill you."

"You're telling me…" Reiko said as he sat down and ran a hand through his hair "But now I'm totally wiped. There's no way I could stand up in another fight."

"If that's the case, take this." Haku said, handing Reiko a small pill "We didn't want to help you, but there are going to be some semi-finals ahead, and we want you to win."

"You know that this would be considered cheating don't you?" Reiko said as he took the pill and quickly swallowed it "You don't come in to this exam and just give people soldier pills."

"We're missing nin…we don't have any qualms about cheating." Zabuza said from his comfortable seat "Now get your skinny ass to that tower. Your friends are already heading there."

"Zabuza sama, watch your language." Haku said slightly threateningly to Zabuza, who merely grunted in response and looked off into the distance.

"If that's the case, then I need to get going. I'll see you guys after I'm done with the semi-finals." Reiko said, bounding off through the trees toward the tower.

Reiko met Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke at the tower, just as they were getting there. They wouldn't have been able to go in, of course, but they were there, and that's all that mattered. Well, not really, but kind of…

They prepared themselves to go in, while Reiko just opened the door and walked in. They could almost swear he was doing it just to ruin the mood of the moment. Once inside, Reiko handed Naruto the scrolls, and he opened each of them.

"Congratulations." Said a voice that emerged from the explosion that opening the scrolls created "You have passed this portion of the chuunin exam!"

"Iruki sensei!" Naruto exclaimed, seeing his teacher standing before him "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to take this opportunity to congratulate you personally." Iruka said with a smile "It's not a job a whole lot of people line up for so I got it pretty easily."

"So you're here to say congratulations and tell us about the chuunin's motto?" Reiko asked him with one eyebrow raised.

"Well…yeah…" Iruka said, scratching the back of his head "Do you already know the motto or something?"

"Well, I kinda just read that thing up there and filled in the blanks…It's not really all that hard to discern." Reiko said "It basically just means train your weaknesses and become stronger as a whole."

"I guess that takes care of my first job…" Iruka said slightly uncomfortably "I guess all I have to tell you after that is that there are going to be some semi-finals and wish you luck."

"Thank you Iruka sensei!" Naruto said, jumping up and hugging Iruka around the neck and then proceeding to bounce around everywhere yelling about how he passed. Because of the rather joyous situation, they decided not to hassle him this one time.

"Okay you four, go in there and fight your hardest!" Iruka said, guiding them to the small arena where they would be fighting.


	11. Chapter 11

Yo

Sorry for the long wait. I had to do an overhaul on this story. Not a major one, but it was rather intrustive. This chapter was one of the main problems actually. I had to almost completely rewrite everything from scratch, and then I had to split the fight into two parts. At any rate I hope you like it.

I own squat.

* * *

The arena was impressive. Reiko saw a monolithic animated statue with six gigantic blades systematically taking out large portions of the gennin, but everybody else thought it was nice. Everyone quickly filed into their respective places on the upper level to watch the fights below.

"Okay everyone, the semi-finals will soon commence." Said a booming voice over the loudspeaker that had been rigged to project clearly throughout the whole building "The fighters names will be announced on the electronic screen."

Quiet murmurings grew up from the crowd. Everyone was completely exhausted from the forest of death. They had all strained themselves as it was. There was no doubt that things were going to get serious here.

"Hey guys, I'm gonna go and hit the snack bar." Reiko announced, completely out of the blue to his teammates, who all merely nodded at him "I'll make sure and not miss any of our fights if they get called though."

Reiko walked off without another word, every now and then glancing upward at the ceiling. In truth, he did go by the snack bar, but didn't stop there. He went directly outside. From there, it was a simple thing to shimmy his way up to the roof where he saw three figures sitting near the edge.

"Hey guys, I figured you'd be up here." Reiko said as he walked up. Upon getting closer however, he noticed that the third figure on the roof was the grass shinobi from earlier that kicked all their asses "You're that guy who kicked our asses!"

"Yeah…" Zabuza said, drawing his words out as if Reiko were a retard "This is Orochimaru sama. He's hanging out up here to watch the fights. Is that a problem?"

"Nope." Reiko said quickly, plopping himself right next to the snake sannin, who in turn handed him a pair of binoculars "I was just makin' sure I knew who it was."

"Would any of you boys care for a soft drink?" Haku asked with a smile, opening up a cooler.

"No ma'am." All three of them said in perfect unison. After doing so, they exchanged uncomfortable glances and then went back to watching the fights.

"Hey guys, I can see up this woman's dress…" Zabuza said with a slight chuckle. "She's on the third level, eighteenth row, seat twenty third from the right."

"Wow…" Reiko said, turning his binoculars to the indicated spot. At a sideways glance, he noticed Orochimaru was still watching the fights. "Orochimaru…dude…are you gay or something? Turn your binoculars in the correct direction if you would please."

"I've waited almost ten years until I could give Sasuke my curse seal." Orochimaru said, not taking his eyes off of Sasuke, who was currently fighting, and winning easily "I will see how he fares if it's the last thing I do."

"You need a woman. A strange, sadistic, snake-like woman…" Zabuza said, not taking his eyes off of the woman he was currently glued to.

"If the two of you don't stop being perverted, I'm going to beat you to a pulp." Haku said threateningly in a very calm voice like only she was able to do.

Zabuza and Reiko immediately went back to watching the fight, which was just ending. To themselves, they both wondered why they were taking orders from Haku, but didn't question it, for Reiko's name was suddenly flashed onto the board.

"Oh crap, it looks like I'm fighting that Hyuuga Neji guy." Reiko said, standing up "This is the worst possible fight ever."

"Nah, you could be fighting that Rock Lee kid." Zabuza said in a rather anti-encouraging way.

"Good luck on your fight Reiko kun. Do your best and don't get hurt." Haku said, walking over and hugging him lightly. For an instant Reiko blushed, but he hid it as soon as he could. Assassins didn't blush. Ever.

"Hey kid, don't use your mask." Orochimaru said to him offhandedly, while still not actually looking at him "If you use it to much you could die."

"I'll keep that in mind." Reiko replied in a less than convinced tone as he lowered himself down to the arena floor. It took a few second, and he could tell Neji was getting impatient.

Neji stood with his arms crossed and his eyes closed, seemingly peaceful, but Reiko knew better. He could practically feel the anger and annoyance rolling off of him. He was already a dangerous opponent without being downright peeved. Reiko decided to hurry.

"Sorry I'm late." Reiko said quietly, suddenly appearing on the arena floor "I had to see a guy about a thing…"

Everybody in the entire arena was silent, waiting for the match to begin. The tension was almost a feasible thing. Neji was just plain scary. Reiko swallowed the lump in his throat that had accumulated due to his nerves. This fight was just a little too one-sided for his tastes.

"Alright you two" The jounin who happened to be refereeing the match "Just get on with the fight already. I'm sure you know the rules so I won't explain it for you. Now just knock each other out already."

Reiko and Neji stood facing each other for a second. Each one saw the battle in their minds, unfolding itself in slow motion so they could capture every detail. Without a sound, they flew at each other. Reiko had yet to draw his sword because he wanted to gauge his own speed. Neji decided not to use any real techniques on him

The first blow was a quick jab from Neji using his jyuken. He came in low and aimed at a specific tenketsu on his left shoulder.Reiko was only barely able to register the move and leaned back just in time to get out of the way. Neji's speed was unparalleled, and that was Reiko's biggest weakness. Reiko went in to punch Neji, but only found himself with blood coming out of his mouth. Neji had hit his mark with deadly accuracy.

Reiko , despite already being wounded, decided it was time to pull out his sword and go after it. The advantages to the sword were it's ability to keep an opponent at bay for a time, but the disadvantage was that it would leave gaping holes in his defenses and it would slow him down a great deal. Reiko swung in a high arc, trying to push Neji back more than anything. Neji dodged to the side however, and went in with another punch. Reiko saw this coming though, and pivoted the handle of the sword to where it blocked the blow with much difficulty.

Reiko took the opportunity to go ahead and use the momentum from his last swing to make another wide front sweep, and did so. This time, all Neji could do was jump back away from the blade, and then continue jumping back to avoid the pursuit of the whistling sword.

Reiko thought he might have the upper hand for a split second, then the reality of it sat in as Neji landed a powerful blow to his chest, sending him sliding back a foot or two and causing the amount of blood coming from his mouth to increase. Then it was a frantic series of blocks and dodges, with Reiko on the defensive. It was only with a sudden epiphany during one particularly difficult block that Reiko realized that neither of them were using their full potential. With this thought in mind, he broke away from the flurry of punches and kicks he was currently dodging to try and set up a genjutsu.

Neji realized what was most likely going to happen when Reiko began forming hand seals. He also realized he didn't have much time left, and flew at him with all the speed he could possibly muster.

Neji flew in as fast as he possibly could, not intent on being caught in a genjutsu. He aimed for a tenketsu on his right arm but quickly realized that he was too late.

"_JIGOKUMU NO JUTSU!_" Reiko yelled before the hit could connect to his arm, sending Neji reeling across the arena floor from sudden loss of balance and reality.

Neji curled himself up into a little ball and closed his eyes tightly as he fell to the ground. He didn't see Reiko walk over to him and stand over him for a time before holding up his arms and gloating to the crowd. The referee started to step in and almost got the words out of his mouth when Reiko suddenly lost all feeling in his legs.

"So I see your will is too strong for even that illusion." Reiko said, kneeled on the ground and wiping the blood off of his mouth.

"You're petty illusions are nothing to me. In the end all you have is fear, and you can't beat me with so much fear clouding your vision." Neji said with an eerie calm as he relaxed his stance. "It was pathetic for you to even think that you had a chance."

"Know that you have barely begun to scratch the surface of the might of my illusions." Reiko said, outstretching his hand dramatically. "Should I so please, I could put you in the same place as me, where you will undoubtedly be tortured until your mind shuts itself down in a vain attempt to end all of the agony."

"I will not be defeated by that which is not real." Neji said, his eyes white eyes piercing through him coldly.

Reiko then shocked everybody present, from the dumbfounded Naruto to the astounded Orochimaru. He lifted his right leg up first, moving shakily and unsteadily. Then came his left leg. Slowly but surely, he stood once again, grinning like a madman. There was an audible gasp from the crowd.

Neji didn't waste any time and quickly delivered another blow to the stomach. Reiko fell to the ground and sat there for a second. Then, just like the first time, he got up. Blood streamed down his chest like a long red tattoo. The fact that he was standing was mind bendingly inconceivable.

"How are you able to do that?" Neji asked, his calm tone belying his confusion. Everything he knew said that Reiko should be on the ground unconscious right now, yet he wasn't. He didn't even seem like he was hurt all that bad.

"I simply…."Reiko began, forcing the words out between labored breaths "told my legs…to walk…"

Without another word, Neji dove in and slid behind Reiko, striking him in the back. The young swordsman didn't even try to dodge. He merely stood and took it. Neji then moved in front of him as he was falling and hit him in the chest, then struck both of his arms, and both of his legs, and then his hands. No person could move with so many tenketsu taken out. It would be impossible.

Neji stood back with a smug smile on his face as he looked at Reiko lying on the ground. The genjutsu specialist had been annoying, but now he was down for good. He could see his shallow breathing, and with his _byukagan_, he could see his erratic heartbeat. He was teetering on the brink of life and death as it was. It was a done deal. He turned around to tell the referee that the fight was over, but instead, he saw that the jounin's eyes were wide with what appeared to be shock.

"You were right Hyuuga…I am afraid…" he could hear Reiko saying painfully, each word siphoning more and more strength from his crippled body.

Turning around, he saw that incredibly, against all odds, defeating all logical thought processes and rules, Reiko was sitting up on his elbows. Blood covered his chest and his lower jaw where his life still leaked out of him. Then, he got up on his legs. It didn't look like he had a jutsu activated or anything. This wasn't a trick or an illusion. This was solid and real. This was one boy defying what was supposed to be.

"Every morning, I'm scared of waking up…" Reiko continued on as if him standing was the most normal thing in the world "I'm afraid…of the people I see. I'm afraid of…the village…the buildings…the trees…and my friends."

There wasn't a sound made in the entire stadium. Everyone watched the young swordsman intently. He just stood there. Anyone who hadn't seen the beginning of the fight didn't know why everybody was so amazed. They all saw nothing more than a scared boy who did what couldn't be done.

"Every day…I go through excrutiating pain." Reiko continued on, his tone never changing. This was perfectly normal for him. No big deal "Sometimes I can't sleep. Sometimes…I just wish I was dead…and at the end of the day…I'm afraid to go to sleep because…of nightmares that constantly haunt me."

"What does all of this have to do with why you are standing?" Neji asked calmly, seemingly unphazed by the whole ordeal.

"Because…" Reiko said as blood started to stream out of his eyes. The wind picked up in the stadium and Reiko's chakra seemed to suddenly explode "Fear has turned me into a killing machine."


	12. Chapter 12

Yo

Well, it went down like this. I'm sitting here at my computer at four o'clock in the morning, not sleeping even though I have work tomorrow, and a thought comes to me. I should update regularly. It hit me like a ton of bricks. People like that regular updating thing, and you really are a good bunch of readers, you know, really sensational people. I was thinking that you guys deserve the best, and that's what I try to offer.

At any rate, on wit de show.

I don't own Naruto.

* * *

"What's going on? Why is his bloodline activating without his mask?" Haku asked worriedly to Zabuza and Orochimaru.

"His bloodline is not controlled by his mask. The mask merely induced the conditions for his bloodline to appear artificially." Orochimaru explained, "Reiko's mind is very fragile. Its limits are much smaller than yours or mine. If he reaches a certain limit, set off by strong feelings like grief, pain, or anger, certain parts of his mind shut down, and other parts start to function at ten times their normal capacity."

"But his mind doesn't register the pain like normal people!" Haku said desperately, the anxiety evident in her tone "He shouldn't be at his limit right now!"

"It's true, he doesn't feel it like normal, but his arm is still sending the signals to his brain, which is trying to decipher whether it's real or not." Orochimaru said calmly "It's almost like a type of failsafe that was put in to make sure any wielder of the blood limit couldn't be tortured. Just be glad he's not using the full extent of the limit."

"What's the full extent of his limit? How do you know all of this?" Haku asked, practically begging him for the answers.

"His bloodline serves several purposes and has side effects as well." Orochimaru explained calmly "His hallucinations give him the ability to completely shirk any genjutsu, but have the side effect of removing fear and pain from his mind. He doesn't know what's real and what isn't, and therefore has no reason to fear anything at all. The second was to make a killing machine. While in his torn state of mind, he can do one of two things…Either make what he sees a reality, or become what he sees and fight with the strength of a demon."

"But…how did you get this information? Why should we believe you?" Haku asked slightly angrily. She wasn't really angry at him, but several emotions were flooding her senses all at once, making it hard for her mind to sort them out.

"Haku, calm yourself." Zabuza commanded. This wasn't a personal order. It was a command from a general to his solder, and Haku obeyed. Turning a calm eye to Orochimaru, he motioned for the traitorous sannin to continue.

"When I was a small boy, I knew the last wielder of the Himura blood limit for a short time." Orochimari said with a snakelike smile "The last wielder of Himura insanity was a little more knowledgeable about his power's history, though the resemblance between the two is amazing."

>>>>> 

Reiko's body was now entirely on fire with blue flames and his eyes bled freely for what appeared to be no reason at all. Neji didn't appear to be the least bit daunted by the display however, and stood his ground confidently, whether out of ignorance or bravery no one could tell.

Neji flew in, thinking himself to be ready for anything, but expecting not nearly enough. Reiko countered each blow with his own blow, apparently matching speeds perfectly with Neji now. The Hyuuga took a step back and tried to aim for the crazed swordsman's vital tenketsu, but found himself denied at each blow.

Reiko suddenly summoned up a burst of speed and elbowed Neji in the side of the head, sending him sprawling on the ground. The illusionist moved in to land another blow, but quickly found himself showered in jyuken strikes.

Each blow pushed him back a bit but didn't seem to do much damage. Neji had the greater speed of the two, and Reiko wasn't sane enough to use any sort of strategy. Blow after blow, Reiko just shrugged it off like it was nothing, the blue aura around him only faltering momentarily with each hit.

"What in the hell are you?" Neji asked quietly to himself as Reiko only grinned at him evilly, spitting some of the blood trailing out of his mouth on the ground.

Now Reiko pulled out his sword again. As soon as his hand touched the hilt, the rest of the blade began to glow with the same eerie blue aura as the rest of his body. For some reason or another, call it a sixth sense, he knew that this time Reiko's sword would move much faster.

Before Neji had the chance to register something had happened, the blade was flying at him. It was a close call, but the Hyuuga managed to get away from that one strike with only a small nick on his cheek. But that's apparently when Reiko began the full force of his attack.

Neji could only dodge and jump out of the way as Reiko's blade came at him. This was the first time in the young Hyuuga's life that he really thought he would lose a fight. He didn't even see Reiko any more. It was only a phantom blade that flew in, jabbed several times and then moved to a new position.

The young Hyuuga knew his only chance was the _kaiten_, but didn't have enough time to execute it in between Reiko's sword thrusts. All he could hope to do was wait for an opening. He just needed a second. That was all.

Then, as if the gods had answered his prayers, he found the opening, the blessed second. Quickly as he could he spun around, executing his _kaiten _as well as he ever had. For a while, he didn't know if it was successful. Then he found Reiko lying on the ground not too far away.

The young swordsman opened his eyes, wondering for all the world why his body hurt all over. Slowly, he got up, fighting the shooting pain all throughout his legs and body. It felt like his bones were tearing themselves away from each other from the inside.

As he cleared his head, he saw Neji standing there with a smirk on his face. It took a second for him to remember why he was here, and why Neji was standing there. He was fighting in the semi-finals, and Neji was his opponent. He wondered who was winning.

"You're in my field of divination." Neji stated simply, apparently very pleased with himself. Reiko didn't know what the hell he was talking about, but he knew he wasn't good as soon as Neji began moving.

He couldn't really distinguish what Neji yelled, but he reckoned it didn't matter. Soon his entire mind just went blank, and his consciousness slipped into that in between place where there were no nightmares and pain wasn't real. The last thought he had before he faded away was that he would have to thank Neji when he came to again.


	13. Side Chapter

TESTIFY!

Well, I now interrupt your normal scheduled story update for something completely different. It's a side chapter. A straight up, low blowed, crack shapter dedicated to nothing but craziness and random allusions. This is my first side chapter of many you'll be experiencing along this crazy train of a story. Please enjoy.

I don't own anything except Reiko. This goes doubly so for this chapter.

* * *

Reiko awoke in the morning and slowly opened his eyes. Instead of the usual demons he saw impaling him, he saw fish flying around through his room, and either Ted Nugent or Jesus was conducting an invisible orchestra in the corner. He could never tell those two apart.

"It's gonna be one of those days." Reiko said with a sigh as he rolled out of bed and walked his way into the bathroom to brush his teeth.

The problem in the bathroom started when the toilet sank into a laughing chasm of happiness and he had to journey through a realm where chickens ruled, and humans were mere tools that were connected to large cables and had to drink gasoline to run.

In the real world, Reiko's mother screamed when she saw him peeing in the sink and muttering about fumes.

Reiko continued out of his house after putting on his clothes, which was a feat by any standard, and headed towards the normal meeting place on the bridge. Training would be hard today. The actual bridge itself seemed to be intact, and everything actually looked pretty normal, but Reiko knew from experience that this was just the calm before the storm.

"Hey Reiko, you don't look so good. Are you okay?" Sakura asked concernedly as she cocked her head sideways to get a better look at him.

"Yep, mostly." Reiko said, glad that the hallucinations had abated for the moment "I'm just having an off day."

"You've never had an off day before. Is something wrong?" Sakura asked, her voice filled with that genuine compassion that made her different. It was also kind of strange because as far as he knew, Reiko hadn't suddenly become Sasuke.

"Yeah." Reiko said scratching the back of his head "A bad day for me mostly consists of things getting weird, followed by me wiggin' out in the end."

"WOOHOO! BOOBS!" Naruto yelled as he jumpedout of the river and onto the bridgeand ripped off his shirt, revealing him to be wearing a bra to hold in his newly grown breasts.

Reiko blinked several times and stared in both wonderment and disgust. It was at that exact time that a black and white spider monkey wearing an Elvis jacket crawled out of Naruto's cleavage and waved a green card in his face.

"Hey man, tell your little tit-monkey I know he's legit." Reiko said, stepping back and pointing threateningly at Naruto, who stood with his eyes wide in pure shock.

"HEY!" Kakashi said, sliding himself into the picture and wearing a weird maroon suit with his shirt tucked half in and half out. He still wore his mask, but his visible skin was extremely tan "I just got back from a nice suntan session with butter instead of suntan lotion. A guy in an alley sold it to me for an unbelievably cheap price."

"You can't do that! That show's copyrighted!" Reiko yelled, pointing an incriminating finger at Kakashi "You'll get sued and then you'll have to sleep on the streets with old men who wear diapers and eye patches!"

"Hey guys, sorry I'm late. I just had to stop and get something to eat." Sasuke said as he walked up with a bucket of chicken. He looked the same, except he now seemed to weigh about seven hundred pounds, and it all moved when he gasped for breath between bites of chicken.

"Lay off the chicken you useless fatass! You'll never get anywhere in life like that!" Reiko yelled, now turning his finger in Sasuke's direction…or at least the half of the bridge that he occupied.

"Hey fatty, would you care for a wafer thin meat?" The green card monkey asked, jumping up on Sasuke's chest and waving the sliver of meat in front of him.

"I would love a wafer thin meat little green card monkey!" Sasuke exclaimed, as he reached out his tongue to get the meat into his mouth.

"Well that's too damn bad!" The monkey yelled, snatching the meet out from in front of him and slid down his large girth, dragging the green card behind him and splitting Sasuke completely down the middle.

The fat tub of lard that was Sasuke fell to the ground with the front of his body gashed open and kept on eating his chicken out of a bucket. Reiko was about to panic when suddenly, Ozzy Osbourne stepped out of Sasuke's gut wearing a black suit as usual.

"Hey man, you're freakin Ozzy!" Reiko yelled, glad that SOMETHING had gone right today. "You totally rock dude!"

"BOOBS!" Ozzy yelled as he suddenly opened up his coat and revealed his newly acquired breasts that rivaled in size with Naruto's.

"I need to leave." Reiko said as he simply walked away as fast as he knew he could safely power walk, even though the tiles under him lit up as he went on his way.

In reality, the remaining members of team seven stood around with their eyes wide in shock. Reiko had just plain gone too far now. They were seriously debating on killing him. It would have at least put him out of his misery.

"I KNOW he did _not_ just call me a fatass... I say we kill him." Sasuke said emotionlessly as he crossed his arms and closed his eyes, going into one of his 'I don't give a damn' modes.

"We can't just kill him, he's our friend!" Naruto protested instantly "Besides, he could probably kick your ass Sasuke-teme!"

"All of you be quiet." Kakashi said suddenly, taking command like he had never done before. Desperate times called fordesperate measures"We're going to ignore this incident and go about our lives."

The four of them continued on to their mission that day in complete silence. Had a single person talked, the uncomfortable subject of Reiko would have come up, and that's the last thing they needed.

>>>>> 

Reiko walked through the woods in search of Zabuza and Haku. Or at least Haku…she always made everything better. There's no reason that wouldn't work now. All he had to do was get past these accursed trees.

"Hey there little boy." A tree said, suddenly leaning down and whispering in his ear "I'm the Fonz! I just want you to know that your fly's undone."

"Holy crap! Thanks Fonzie!" Reiko said, zipping up his fly with a smile. The only problem was, his fly leapt off of his pants and opened a gigantic portal in space as he continued to zip it up.

Out of the portal stepped Haku, her radiant beauty fighting off all of the hallucinations that plagued Reiko's vision. She looked extremely worried for him because he collapsed in front of her and hugged her around the legs.

"Haku chan! You have to help me!" Reiko cried into her feet, grateful that she had showed up "Naruto had boobs and Kakashi was Kramer from Seinfeld and I told him to stop cause it was copyrighted but he didn't listen and there was a monkey with a green card that used a joke from monty python to trick an extremely obese Sasuke into letting him slit his stomach open and then Ozzy came out of him and he had boobs too but that's normal because he's a crackhead…"

"We need to get you to Zabuza sama right away!" Haku said, trusting that theolder shinobimight have a solution to this problem.

The rest of the trek through the woods went uneventfully, thanks to Reiko hugging as close to Haku as possible so as to keep himself in the 'no hallucination' field that constantly surrounded her. Zabuza was sitting with his feet propped up against a log like he always was…comfortable bastard.

Reiko thought he was safe and stepped out of the field of sanity but he suddenly was assaulted by the fact that Zabuza had become Clint Eastwood, and was staring him down dangerously. His only defense was to cower behind Haku, who was still a little leery about the entire situation.

"So, what's ailin ya…punk?" Zabuza asked with a new raspy quality to his voice "I don't got all day, so make this quick…"

"Zabuza sama, Reiko kun is having problems with his blood limit." Haku explained calmly "His visions are going out of control."

"Well my solution to everything is violence, so lets get after it." Zabuza said as he sighed and picked up an old western style rifle that he had…because he was Clint Eastwood.

"You'll never get me Clint!" Reiko yelled, jumping out from behind Haku and running off in whatever direction he could, which was just about anywhere because he was hallucinating and suddenly trees had become staircases. It's a good thing he was a ninja, otherwise, those 'staircases' would have been very unforgiving.

Reiko charged through the woods so as not to be shot to death like a lame horse by Clint Eastwood. He would have made some progress if he hadn't suddenly run into Ashton Kutcher, who started laughing like he was high.

"Hey man, you just got punked!" The idiotic man who acted like a high teenager and didn't seem to want to grow up and face things like reality and responsibility said stupidly.

"Suck on this you wasteoid bastard!" Reiko yelled, grabbing one of his senbon and plunging it into his neck with childish glee.

He would have laughed evilly over the corpse, but he didn't have time. Without any warning, his body suddenly crumpled to the ground. As his vision went black, he could hear an animal roar around him, but didn't really know where it was coming from.

>>>>> 

Reiko woke up later to find himself staring strait into Zabuza's piercing eyes, which was scary as hell if I do say so. The young assassin in training wasted no time in screaming like a girl and cowering away from the elder shinobi's imposing figure.

"Stop that nonsense this instant!" Zabuza yelled at him, not making the situation any better "Is this the kindness I get for saving your sorry ass!"

"I had Ashton Kutcher nailed you dried up old psycho! You didn't do jack shit!" Reiko yelled back at him as he curled up into a little ball and rocked back and forth gently.

"Reiko kun, that wasn't Ashton Kutcher. That was a bear, and you made him angry when you poked him with a stick." Haku said, bending down and hugging him gently "Is everything back to normal now though?"

"I think so…" Reiko said, checking to make sure weird things weren't happening. It took a pteradactyl swooping out of the sky and biting Zabuza in half for him to finally accept that everything was okay though. "Yep, I'm ship-shape now."

"That's good." Haku said as she tenderly stroked his hair in a very motherly fashion "I just have one question to ask you though."

"What would that be?" Reiko said with a smile, closing his eyes and letting Haku's warm body comfort him.

"Why aren't you up and moving you silly sailor?" Yelled the voice of Richard Simmons instead of Haku, causing Reiko to scream bloody murder.


End file.
